WPL 2024: Amelia Kerr's all-round show helps Mumbai Indians beat Gujarat Giants for second win in a row
MI's Amelia Kerr batting vs GG-W in WPL 2024 (Source: @WPL)
Mumbai Indians continued to stay on the winning path in their Women's Premier League (WPL) title defence with second win of the 2024 season over Gujarat Giants on Sunday(Feb 25). Chasing a modest total of 128, Mumbai reached the target easily in 18.1overs with five wickets in hand. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur top scored with unbeaten 46while Player of the Match Amelia Kerr scored 31 to go with her 4/17 in four overs. Apart from them, Nat Sciver-Brunt also chipped with a handy 22.
Mumbai, however, had an early hiccup in the chase as their both openers Yastika Bhatia (7) and Hayley Matthews (7) were back before the fourth over with just 21 on the board. Kaur then added 28 runs for the third wicket with Sciver-Burnt to steady the ship before adding 66 runs with Kerr.
Gujarat struck soon after Kerr's wicket but their quick two wickets came too late in the match as Mumbai needed only nine runs by the time Pooja Vastrakar was out as fifth wicket, rendering their efforts futile.
Earlier, Mumbai won the toss at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru and elected to field first. Mumbai's Shabnim Ismail proved the decision to bowl right by taking two wickets in her first two overs as Gujarat were 11/2 halfway into the powerplay. Sciver-Burnt then sent back Phoebe Litchfield in the sixth over as Giants ended the powerplay at 43/3.
Dayalan Hemalatha was next to fall off Matthews before Ismail struck again to send back Gujarat skipper Beth Mooney (24). Kerr then stuck twice in 14th over to send back Ashleigh Gardner and Sneh Rana as Gujarat slumped to 78/7. Kathryn Bryce (25 not out) and Tanuja Kanwar (28) then added 48 runs for the eight wicket before Kerr again stuck twice in the last over to restrict Gujarat at 126/9.
After two wins in two games, Mumbai sit atop the points table with four points. Gujarat, meanwhile, will be looking to shake off the losing start to their campaign when they face Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)in their next game on February 27.
