MI vs RCB Highlights WPL 2023: Mumbai Indians beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 9 wickets; Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt hit fifties

Nat Sciver-Brunt finishes things in style, raches her half-century and hands Mumbai its second win. With an unbeaten 29-ball 55, Sciver-Brunt forged an unbeaten 114-run stand with Hayley Matthews, who made a brilliant unbeaten 38-ball 77 as the Mumbai batswomen made light work of the 156-run chase and cruised home in 14.2 overs. Bangalore suffers its second loss and there will be a lot of thinking going in the camp.

The 100-run partnership is up and what a match-winning stand this has been between Sciver-Brunt and Hayley Matthews. Sciver-Brunt will look to get to her half-century and seal the win for Mumbai.

Sciver-Brunt joins the party with a huge six over the deep mid-wicket as she rocks back and dispatches Patil into the stands and then Matthews creams the spinner for two successive boundaries to get Mumbai in touching distance of victory. Needs just 11 runs to win.

A powerful slice to the backward square leg and then a paddle to the fine leg boundary has taken Matthews to 65 with Mumbai needing just another 31 off 48 deliveries. Megan Schutt has struggled with her line and length and she has leaked 32 runs with an over left in her bank and that sums up the poor bowling attack of Bangalore.

Right then the 100 is up for Mumbai and it now needs just 46 runs from 54 deliveries and what a batting exhibition this has been from the women in blue. Matthews is batting on 56 off 29 balls with Sciver-Brunt batting on 27 off 18 balls. The game is slowly and gradually slipping away from their grasp.

Hayley Matthews hits a brilliant 26-ball 50 and what a brilliant knock this has been. The fifty-run partnership is also up as Mumbai is dealing just in boundaries. Bangalore has been leaking runs and the Mumbai batswomen have made merry on a belter of a track.

Hayley Matthews is just two short of her half-century and the partnership is worth 42 runs with the run-rate at 10.32. This is Mumbai express cruising towards a massive win.

It’s all going Mumbai’s way at the moment and Nat Sciver-Brunt with a cheeky reverse shot has put Mumbai firmly in the driver’s seat. Matthews, meanwhile, is motoring on with some powerful hits as Smriti Mandhana searches for a solution to stop the Mumbai rampage on a fast CCI outfield.

Nat Sciver-Brunt is off the mark but it is Matthews who has taken charge of the chase. Mumbai has finished its PowerPlay on a very strong note and Bangalore needs wickets in cluster to make a match out of it.

Nat Sciver-Brunt comes out to the middle and is yet to get off the mark. Hayley Matthews, meanwhile, is playing a gem of a knock, this time with a fine boundary as the ball raced past the bowler. With five hits to the fence and one over it, she is batting unbeaten on 31 off 16 balls. Top innings, so far.

Preeti Bose strikes and she traps the dangerous Yastika Bhatia who falls for a well-made 19-ball 23 and this is the wicket that Bangalore was eyeing. Yastika looked to swipe Preeti by playing it across the line but missed the ball to be trapped plumb. Mumbai loses its first wicket but has got off to a strong start.

Yastika Bhatia is loving the square area as she once again cuts the ball through the point region and Mumbai is in a hurry in run chase of 156. Sound cricket shots and Bangalore needs to break the opening stand to come back into the game.

Yastika Bhatia is hitting the ball sweetly and the southpaw has been in complete control of her shots, hitting down the ground and then exhibiting her batting prowess with slashes through the square of the wicket. Top start from Mumbai in chase of 156.

Yastika Bhatia has come out with a lot of positive intent as she is off the blocks in a flash and has given Mumbai a strong start. A couple of boundaries - one through the backward square region and another sweep through the square - has helped Mumbai kickstart its chase in astrong fashion.

Hayley Matthews is off the mark with a boundary and Yastika Bhatia is away with a single s Renuka Singh begins proceedings for Bangalore. Mumbai’s run chase is on and they should win, if they don’t complicate as the target isn’t that big, considering the wicket is good for batting.

Saika Ishaque takes the Purple Cap as the spinner with six wickets tops the table. On Monday evening, she applied brakes on the Bangalore batting with two wickets and along with Hayley Matthews, who picked three wickets, orchestrated a brilliant comeback after Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine raced away with a blazing start. Bangalore stuttred after winning the toss and opted to bat first with Richa Ghosh top-scoring with a 26-ball 28. Mumbai needs 156 runs to win on a good batting surface and we will be back for the chase in a bit.

Hayley Matthews has finished her quota of four overs and has 3/28 and that’s an excellent spell. Bangalore, meanwhile, has crossed the 150-run mark and will look to add another 20 in the remaining two overs.

Shreyanka’s fine cameo comes to an end as she gets trapped in front of the wickets as Bangalore lost its review. However, the batswoman scored a valuable 15-ball 23 and helped Bangalore almost cross the 150-run mark, which looked bleak at mid-way stage.

Shreyanka is playing a gem of a knock as she dispatches Ishaque for a couple of boundaries and her cut off the backfoot has been superb with the ball piercing through the fielders and running to the boundary.

Mumbai are a couple of overs slow as per the clock and have to roll their arms overs quickly. Schutt and Patil are going for their shots and it will be interesting to see how Bangalore finishes.

Richa Ghosh falls as Bangalore is in danger of not playing their full quota of overs. Matthews tossed it up and Richa went for the sweep but failed to clear the mid-wicket. Megan Schutt joins Patil.

Pooja Vastrakar ends Ahuja’s stay at the wicket as the batswoman gets a top-edge as the keeper settled under the skier. Shreyanka Patil is the new batswoman and she gets off the mark in style with a boundary.

Kanika Ahuja with a couple of boundaries has brought the 100-up for Bangalore and she has kept the tempo up by playing the attacking game and taking on the bowlers. She was lucky though to survive a run-out. The current run-rate is 8.50 and this is a nice recovery from Bangalore despite losing five wickets.

Kanika Ahuja breaks away from the shackles with a smack over the deep extra cover boundary for a maximum as Bangalore nears the 100-run mark. An important partnership is building up between Ahuja and Ghosh. Amelia Kerr and Jintimani Kalita are bowling in tandem.

Richa Ghosh is playing a lovely knock and has held one end with an unbeaten 25 off 19 balls and Bangalore still has got a chance to post a strong total on the board. A batswoman, however, has to hold one end and a lot will depend on Kanika Ahuja.

A huge mix-up and Perry falls short of her crease to leave Bangalore five down. Perry cuts Ishaque to the backward point region but Richa sees a direct throw from Kaai and denied the single but the ball hit the stumps before Perry could drag her bat into the crease. Mumbai will look to contain Bangalore and pick wickets.

Richa Ghosh survives as Harmanpreet Kaur went for a caught behind review but ultra edge confirmed there was no bat involved and almost the entire Mumbai team was convinced there was a deflection but there wasn’t any, as per the reviews. Richa and Perry have forged a 28-run stand and seem to have got their eye in. Important partnership from Bangalore’s point of view.

Ellyse Perry takes the charge to the opposition as she smokes Amelia Kerr straight over the sightscreen for a much-needed maximum and although there was a slight mix-up, the pair of Perry and Richa Ghosh keep the scorecard ticking as Mumbai eyes to make further inroads.

Hayley Matthews has further dented Bangalore as she removed Heather Knight for a duck before packing off Smriti as Mumbai has bounced back and have taken control of the game inside the PowerPlay. Four wickets in a space of two overs have sucked the momentum out of Bangalore.

Saika Ishaque has applied brakes on Bangalore batting with a double blow and that’s an inspired spell of spin bowling. The left-arm spinner first dismissed Sophie Devine who slog swept straight into the hands of the fielder at deep mid-wicket and then Disha Kasat walked back for a duck as the batswoman was yorked with a ball that sneaked past the defence and hit the base of the stumps. Top comeback from Ishaque and she provided much-needed breakthroughs for Mumbai.

This has been a sensational start from Bangalore and Smriti has been on song ever since arrival. Three boundaries and Issy Wong has been taken to the cleaners in her opening over. First a brilliant drive through the covers then an edge that saw the ball race away to the third man fence and then the opener lofted the pacer over mid-on to loot 13 runs in the over.

Saika Ishaque starts well and there was a bit of a cat and mouse game between the bowler and Devine with both reacting to the trigger moments. Devine got away with a streaky boundary as Bangalore continues to pile runs in the PowerPlay.

Mandhana is in good touch as he manufactured a brilliant pull but was almost back in the hit as she hit Nat Sciver-Brunt in the air as Harmanpreet paddled back but the ball fell safe. Good start from RCB with both openers off the mark with boundaries.

Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine are off the blocks in a flash with the skipper getting off the mark with a punch through the extra cover and then Devine pounced into Mathews as she smoked the spinner over the backward square leg for a maximum. Strong start from RCB.

Right then we are all set for Match four to begin and it’s Smriti Mandhana along with Sophie Devine who will open for Royal Challengers Bangalore. For Mumbai, it will be Hayley Matthews who will operate with the new ball.

“Smriti is little luckier than me with the toss. We wanted to bowl first and we got that. We have the confidence in our bowling unit and that’s why we wanted to bowl today. We are going with the same XI.”

“We would like to bat first. It is looks like a good wicket to bat on and chasing builds pressure. We had a chat in the meeting that thinking about totals would not help, we have to play to our strengths and we will get the big total. One of the top four batters has to bat deep and if we can do that then we will post good totals. One change for us.”

Yastika Bhatia(w), Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Amelia Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar, Issy Wong, Amanjot Kaur, Humaira Kazi, Jintimani Kalita, Saika Ishaque

Smriti Mandhana(c), Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Disha Kasat, Richa Ghosh(w), Heather Knight, Kanika Ahuja, Megan Schutt, Shreyanka Patil, Preeti Bose, Renuka Thakur Singh

Royal Challengers Bangalore Women won the toss and opted to bat first

It’s quite windy out there in the middle but we should have the toss on time. Stay tuned as we gear up for a blockbuster of a contest.

“This is a typical CCI pitch, it’s a fair red solid pitch which has a bit in it for everyone. It has a fair sprinkling of grass which will help to bind the pitch together. If you bowl first, the seamers will get a bit of help, it’s slightly damp as well and should be helpful for the spinners as well.”

The Live streaming of the MI-W vs RCB-W WPL 2023 will be available on the Jio Cinema app.

RCB-W Predicted Playing XI: Yastika Bhatia (wk), Hayley Matthews, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Amelia Kerr, Amanjot Kaur, Pooja Vastrakar, Humaira Kazi, Issy Wong, Jintimani Kalita, Saika Ishaque

MI-W Predicted Playing XI: Yastika Bhatia (wk), Hayley Matthews, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Amelia Kerr, Amanjot Kaur, Pooja Vastrakar, Humaira Kazi, Issy Wong, Jintimani Kalita, Saika Ishaque

Royal Challengers Bangalore Women Squad: Smriti Mandhana(c), Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Disha Kasat, Richa Ghosh(w), Heather Knight, Kanika Ahuja, Asha Shobana, Megan Schutt, Preeti Bose, Renuka Thakur Singh, Dane van Niekerk, Indrani Roy, Erin Burns, Poonam Khemnar, Sahana Pawar, Shreyanka Patil, Komal Zanzad

Mumbai Indians Women Squad: Yastika Bhatia(w), Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Amelia Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar, Issy Wong, Amanjot Kaur, Humaira Kazi, Jintimani Kalita, Saika Ishaque, Heather Graham, Chloe Tryon, Sonam Yadav, Neelam Bisht, Priyanka Bala, Dhara Gujjar

Well it’s almost time and we are set for the clash of two heavyweights in the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League. It’s Harmanpreet Kaur-led Mumbai against Smriti Mandhana’s Bangalore.