Debutant Sajana takes Mumbai house with nerveless last-ball six
Mumbai Indians 173 for six (Bhatia 57, Harmanpreet 55, Capsey 2-23, Reddy 2-27) beat Delhi Capitals 171 for five (Capsey 75, Rodrigues 42, Sciver-Brunt 2-33) by 4 wickets
The opening night of the second season of the Women’s Premier League ended prefer it began – in a blockbuster style.
Defending champions Mumbai Indians romped house in a last-ball thriller to kickstart their title defence in Bengaluru with a four-wicket win. A movie-like ending – after the sport swung a technique after which the opposite – was solely apt after the opening ceremony was full of the glitz, due to the who’s-who of Bollywood.
Chasing an unlikely 172, Mumbai wanted 22 off the final two overs with captain Harmanpreet Kaur set. She hit a six on the final ball of the penultimate over to convey the equation right down to 12 off 6. Capitals turned to the part-time off-spin of Alice Capsey with the longer boundary on the leg facet. The transfer virtually labored after she dismissed Pooja Vastrakar and Harmanpreet within the first 5 balls.
But with 5 wanted off the final ball, Kerala allrounder S Sajana, taking part in her first WPL match, walloped Capsey over long-on to ring off celebrations at a near-packed M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Only hours in the past, Capsey had starred with a 53-ball 75 with the bat – aided by a dropped catch by Sajana – to assist Capitals put up a tall complete.
Bhatia powers chase
Mumbai misplaced Hayley Matthews on the second ball of the chase, when she went for an off drive and edged one behind off Marizanne Kapp. Yastika Bhatia received off the mark with a pleasant drive previous broad mid-off for 4. She then hit Annabel Sutherland for 2 fours earlier than meting out a particular remedy to Shikha Pandey within the final over of the powerplay.
Bhatia lofted her over mid-off first earlier than getting a thick outdoors edge previous the wicketkeeper. She then picked up a shortish supply over deep midwicket as Mumbai completed the powerplay on 50 for 1.
Arundhati Reddy struck on her first ball, yorking Nat Sciver-Brunt with an inswinging slower one, however there was nothing stopping Bhatia. She introduced up her fifty off 35 balls and appeared set to bat by means of the chase. But she discovered Kapp at deep midwicket, when she heaved one other Reddy slower one throughout the road.
Harmanpreet offers opening match deja vu
Harmanpreet received off the mark with a crisp cowl drive on her first ball. She continually rotated the strike and located the boundaries recurrently even after Bhatia holed out. The tempo of Sutherland and Kapp, because the chase received nearer, solely helped her. She smoked a large six over long-on to convey up a 32-ball fifty. It appeared like we would seen it earlier than – she had struck a half-century in a profitable chase within the opening sport of WPL 2023, too.
But the chase appeared to lose steam as soon as she was dismissed, earlier than Sajana did the unthinkable.
Ismail breathes hearth
When Mumbai introduced in Shabnim Ismail on the public sale, there have been talks that she could possibly be a again up for Issy Wong. But she not solely began WPL 2024 forward of Wong but in addition bowled a gap spell that will have quelled notion of Ismail being a ‘again up’. She began with a one-run first over which was backed up by left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque from the opposite finish.
Ismail then struck on the primary ball of her second over – a 118kph supply castling Shafali Verma, who cleared her entrance leg and appeared to mow it throughout the road. Capitals scored solely 26 for 1 within the powerplay, with Ismail’s figures studying 3-0-10-1. She then returned on the dying, the place a dropped catch denied her the wicket of a set Capsey.
C for Capitals, C for Capsey
Meg Lanning and Capsey had rebuilt in a gradual method earlier than the shackles have been damaged within the first over after the powerplay. Capsey danced right down to loft Amelia Kerr over further cowl earlier than Lanning did the identical to hit her over mid-on. Another legspinner, debutant SB Keerthana, was taken for 13 in her solely over. When Lanning and Capsey hit a six and a 4 in Kerr’s subsequent, Capitals had managed to attain 37 within the three overs after the sector restrictions have been lifted. One over after the timeout although, Sciver-Brunt managed to get the higher of Lanning.
Cue for Capsey’s gear change. She hit two sixes and a 4 off Matthews to convey up a half-century off simply 36 balls. Along with Jemimah Rodrigues, who amalgamated her deft contact with aggression, Capitals managed to search out boundaries recurrently heading into the dying overs. Capsey and Rodrigues added 74 off simply 40 balls earlier than the previous fell. She missed a reverse sweep off Kerr an over after she was dropped for 72.
Rodrigues additionally confirmed her wares by recurrently peppering the on facet boundary. She deposited an Ismail slower one over long-on earlier than clubbing a slower bouncer from Sciver-Brunt over deep midwicket. It was the primary time since August 2019 that Rodrigues had hit multiple six in a T20 innings (the place ball-by-ball data can be found on ESPNcricinfo).
A closing flourish from Kapp, who hit three fours within the final over, helped Capitals end on 171. But that was not sufficient for Mumbai, who maintained a clear slate of run-chases within the WPL.
S Sudarshanan is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @Sudarshanan7