Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Giants faced each other at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai in the inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League. Harmanpreet Kaur led her team to victory in their very first game of the tournament by a huge margin. It looks like choosing the ball went wrong for Beth Mooney's side. Mumbai Indians totally dominated the match. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Amelia Kerr's partnership was all they needed to put up a huge total of 200+. Let's get to know, what happened in the match of Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Giants, the opener of WPL 2023.
WPL 2023: Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Giants
Gujarat Giants skipper Beth Mooney won the toss and elected to bowl first. Hayley Matthews & Yastika Bhatia went on to open the innings. Hayley Matthews smashed the first six of the Women's Premier League and gave a brilliant start with stormy innings of 47(31) with 3 fours and 4 sixes. Nat Schiver Brunt gave a good partnership but couldn't go long Georgia Wareham claimed her wicket.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur & young Amelia Kerr took responsibility and started the fireworks for Mumbai Indians. Kaur became the first batter to score a half-century in the Women's Premier League. She scored 65 runs in just 30 deliveries with 14 fours. Amelia Kerr also bullied the opposition bowlers with her variety of shots. She remained not out by scoring 45 runs in 24 deliveries with 6 fours and 1 six. Mumbai Indians put up a huge total of 207 runs by losing only 5 wickets.
The Blues started their bowling attack quite in fashion as they took early wickets in the game. Gardner & Harleen Deol both lost their wickets with a duck. Dayalan Hemalatha tried to help his team to reach a respected total. She remained not out with 29 runs. Shaika Ishaque claimed 4 wickets and bowled out Gujarat Giants for 64 runs. Beth Mooney couldn't come down to bat after sustaining an injury and that can be the reason for this fall. Mumbai Indians won the game by a huge margin of 143 runs.