Image Credit- BCCI
In the WPL 2024,
Mumbai Indians maintained their strong run of play by dominating Royal
Challengers Bangalore with the bat and the ball to win by seven wickets. This
is the case even if Shabnim Ismail and Harmanpreet Kaur, two of their key
players, are out. Mumbai did this to take the lead in the points table and to
remain unbeaten in the competition’s run chases.
In WPL 2024, batting
first has not always been easy for teams. Nevertheless, RCB is one of just two
clubs to triumph while keeping a lead. However, they failed to get off to a
good start on Saturday and lost Smriti Mandhana and S Meghana in the first five
overs. Which brought Perry to the crease; he had been sick for the preceding
three days. She took a while to get going, scoring just three runs off her
first nine balls on a surface that was slightly brown.
In the tenth over, legspinner SB Keerthana produced a ball that was somewhat
short, which enabled her to hit her first boundary—a pull through square leg.
Actually, she scored five fours on deliveries that were either short or on a
length.
Sciver-Brunt, the
interim captain of Mumbai, rotated her bowlers so that no bowler bowled an over
after the other. Perry was also hampered by the fact that they seldom made
mistakes in lines and lengths.
Perry only received a little assistance from Georgia Wareham, as the two shared
a 52-run sixth-wicket stand that helped RCB to a decent total. Only Meghana and
Sophie Molineux reached double figures aside from them, as the RCB concluded
their innings without hitting a single six.
Hayley Matthews and
Yastika Bhatia got off to a start that would allay any concerns about how
difficult the 132-run chase would be. With 431 partnership runs throughout four
fifty-plus stands, they rank among the WPL’s most prolific couples. They got
off to a commanding start. Mumbai were hunting in fourth gear when Molineux’s
left-arm spin was met with a six and a four from Bhatia.
In the third over of the innings, Renuka also went the entire distance in her
second over. Matthews capitalised on the width for two fours and then on an
overpitched one. Between, Bhatia produced one of the most exquisite pick-up
strokes over midwicket for a six.
Kerr continued to
bat at No. 4 in Harmanpreet’s absence, and he was an ideal counterbalance for
Sciver-Brunt. She started off by taking a few shots via Simran Bahadur’s leg
side, a medium-pacer. While the second was a back-foot clip between deep square
leg and deep midwicket, the first was a perfectly timed flick past midwicket.
In addition, she enjoyed Patil and Asha Sobhana’s spin while Sciver-Brunt
continued to pile up runs. For the third wicket, Kerr and Sciver-Brunt combined
for 49 runs off of just 35 runs.
Kerr was unbeaten on 40 off 24 and led Mumbai through despite not playing the
flashy scoops and reverse sweeps. Kerr finished with a strike rate of 166.66.