Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians Highlights, WPL 2024: Harmanpreet Kaur seals five-wicket win with a six

Amelia Kerr for her allround show (4/17 and a 25-ball 31) is the player of the match

Sneh Rana will bowl the penultimate over. Oh and this will be the final over for the night it seems as Harmanpreet seals a five wicket win for the Mumbai Indians with a massive six over deep midwicket. 

Gardner will bowl out. She concedes a boundary off the first delivery bringing the target down to 5 needed from 17 balls. An outside edge goes past Mooney to the ropes. Harmanpreet wants to do a Sajana and tries to go aerial. Litchfield collects at deep midwicket. Gardner manages to beat Amanjot a few times. 4 runs needed off 12 balls now. 

Pooja Vastrakar is giving Harmanpreet company and it will take two good shots to seal this chase but Tanuja Kanwar will not let the journey be any easier than it needs to be. She has Vastakar bowled as a length ball on off goes straight between bat and pad, and onto the stumps. MI reviews saying a fielder wasn’t in the circle as per the rules. Umpires check, GG is cleared and Tanuja has her wicket. 

WICKET Pooja Vastrakar b Kanwar 1 (2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50

Lea Tahuhu comes in for her third. 17 needed from 30 balls. Kerr scoops for four but Tahuhu has the last laugh as she removes Kerr leg before. She shuffles across with her left leg beyond the off stump. MI reviews but the DRS vindicates the umpire with the ball heading into the off stump. 

WICKET Amelia Kerr lbw b Tahuhu 31 (25b 3x4 0x6) SR: 124

10 runs conceded by Gardner as MI inches close to a comfortable win. Kerr is allowed a boundary after the fielder lets it through. An lbw appeal follows with Gujarat reviewing the delivery. Umpire was not interested. Review shows the ball going down leg. 

Tanuja Kanwar comes in for her third. Oh no. Bryce is clumsy in the field here. Kerr gets this through backward point. Bryce dives over it, but can’t contain as it rolls away to the ropes with her pursuing the ball. 9 runs in total from this over

Amelia Kerr gets three runs off Bryce’s first ball this over. Too much width from Bryce and it’s too easy for Kerr. Harmanpreet Kaur gets a boundary yet again, with Bryce going wide again. Harman finds the gap as she cuts the field through point and short third. 11 runs come off this over for MI

Sneh Rana returns. Two runs conceded off her first four balls but the boundary will come as Harman reverse sweeps again. Beth Mooney anticipates this as moves accordingly but even she can’t stop this neither can the chasing fielder. FOUR RUNS. 

Lea Tahuhu comes in for another one. MI needs 62 runs from 60 balls. Some serious work needs to happen to derail this chase. Mumbai needs to keep chipping away.

Tahuhu is up to the task as she poses questions of Harmanpreet Kaur with a bouncer. Eight runs conceded in this over. 

Sneh Rana comes into the attack. Harmanpreet Kaur does some showboating here, with a cheeky paddle shot, but with the back of the bat for four. Eight runs come off this Sneh Rana over. 

Meghna Singh comes back for her second but looks a bit uncomfortable after she slips in the run through.. She looks to be in pain as the Gujarat physio attends to her. A few minutes pass and Meghna is good to go. Line is off in that first delivery but recovers. Seven runs come off the over. 

Ashleigh Gardner returns. She’s off to a slow start, stingy with the runs as she switches between targetting the pads and tempting the batter outside off. OH AND THERE’S A RUN OUT and it’s the big wicket of Natalie Sciver-Brunt. Gardner pitched this short outside the off stump. Harmanpreet nudged this to short third. Tanuja Kanwar throws the ball to Mooney who crashes the stumps. Natalie Sciver Brunt is short by an inch or so. Terrible. 

WICKET Nat Sciver-Brunt run out (Kanwar/†Mooney) 22 (18b 4x4 0x6) SR: 122.22

Tanuja Kanwar comes in. Harmanpreet Kaur drives for a beautiful boundary through extra cover and cover point for four. Seven runs come off the over. A few hiccups coming Mumbai’s way but the chase is still very much on track. 

Nat Sciver-Brunt finds the fence twice. The first one flies over the keeper’s head and the second has been hit past deep square leg. There is some yes-no-maybe as Sciver-Brunt runs three. Could have been trouble. Bryce bowls an expensive over as she give away 11 runs. 

Hayley Matthews holes out to Ashleigh Gardner at deep midwicket. This one kept low and one would say the pull shot was absolutely unnecessary. Tanuja Kanwar gets the much-needed wicket. Skipper Harmanpreet walks out to the middle.

Hayley Matthews c Gardner b Kanwar 7 (11b 1x4 0x6) SR: 63.63

Kathryn Bryce is introduced and she strikes almost immediately. Yastika swings her bat as she tries to get a fuller ball over Bryce’s head. Veda Krishnamurthy takes a simple catch at mid off. She follows a good showing with the bat with a wicket maiden to start off. 

WICKET Yastika Bhatia c Krishnamurthy b Bryce 7 (7b 1x4 0x6) SR: 100

Meghna Singh to bowl the second. Couple of wayward deliveries to start the over. Mooney has no fielders up close to try and intimidate or inconvenience the opponent batters. Yastika gets her first boundary as Meghna goes down leg. Too simple for Yastika. Hayley Matthews is not to be left behind as she pulls Meghna for four, beating a diving fielder in the circle at midwicket. 

Ashleigh Gardner begins the defence for Gujarat. Spin up front. Kathryn Bryce said there is something in the wicket for everyone and that’s what Gujarat seems to be banking on. She wasn’t wrong about it. Gardner gets massive turn with one even racing past Mooney to the boundary. Seven runs off the first. 

A 48-run stand from 36 balls for the eighth wicket helps Giants to 127. Here’s what Bryce had to say about the game: 

It was really good to get that partnership. The pitch is a little tricky and is doing a bit off the seam still. 

(About the score they were looking at) Probably around the 150-160 mark. Did not get off to the best start and that made things tricky. Shabnim Ismail’s cutters were getting something out of the pitch. If you use your variations, it is going to be tough for the batters to get going. 

Amelia Kerr will bowl the final over. Tanuja Kanwar gets a boundary through backward point. But Kerr has her wicket as Yastike stumps Kanwar. She was out by a mile. Kerr sends one going outside off. Kanwar walks down the track and swings but misses. Too easy for Yastika. Kerr removes her compatriot Lea Tahuhu two balls later, off the final ball of the innings. 127 to win for Mumbai Indians. 

Matthews to bowl out. Kanwar begins with a four through the short fine leg boundary. Kathryn Bryce follows that up with a six. 13 runs come off the over. Positive for the Giants. 

Keerthana returns. Tanuja Kanwer uses this over to free her arms a little, with a boundary through extra cover and mid off. 10 runs off this over for the Giants as this Bryce-Kanwer partnership steadies the innings.

Hayley Matthews is brought back for her third over. Just four runs. conceded as Matthews keeps maintains her length to tighten any scope for runs. 

Kerr returns. A potential chance to remove Bryce is lost as Yastika grasses the ball. Four runs come off the over. 

Keerthana Balakrishnan returns. A few quiet balls later, Bryce frees the scoring a bit with a boundary through short fine leg. Seven runs come off the over for Gujarat Giants. 

Amelia Kerr comes in to bowl. The pressure is mounting on Gardner. She pulls looking for a boundary but first finds the fielder at square leg. Shabnim Ismail’s quota of overs may be up but she comes in to help Kerr dismiss Gardner. The Aussie allrounder miscues a tempting offer outside off and sends the ball high. Ismail takes a neat catch. Sneh Rana is the next batter in but will last only for two deliveries, as Kerr knocks her stumps down. Duck for the Giants vice captain. Some relief for Gujarat as Tanuja Kanwar, the new batters. sees the over through with a boundary through fine leg. 

WICKETS Ashleigh Gardner c Ismail b Kerr 15 (22b 2x4 0x6) SR: 68.18; Sneh Rana b Kerr 0 (2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0

Vastrakar to bowl the 13th. Gardner sends a fullish deliver to the boundary ropes between mid on and mid wicket. She has a close shave moments later as she swings at a dolly from Vastrakar but misses as it heads to the keeper. Six runs come off the over. 

Saika Ishaque comes in for her first over. Ashleigh Gardner sends one going to the boundary ropes past the umpire. First boundary in a little over 7 overs for Gujarat. 

GG loses its fifth wicket. Beth Mooney has to go after Shabnim Ismail returns to bowl her final over for the day. She bowls full towards that leg stump yet again but slightly slow. Yastika Bhatia takes care of it behind the stumps as Mooney produces the faintest of edges. Gujarat in deep deep trouble. Kathryn Bryce is the new batter in. 

WICKET Beth Mooney c †Bhatia b Ismail 24 (22b 2x4 0x6) SR: 109.09

Keerthana Balakrishnan into the attack right after the timeout. The right arm leg spinner starts with three dot balls. Ash Gardner is not taking any chances. Good start for the bowler as just two runs come off it. 

Pooja Vastrakar gets her first over of the evening and immediately shouts for lbw. The ball’s going into Ash Gardner but this looks like it’ll go above the stumps. Vastrakar concedes just three runs. Not looking too good for the Giants at the moment. 

Hayley Matthews returns and brings up wicket number four, removing D Hemalatha. She was looking uncertain about the length throughout the over and tries to muscle her way through it. with an aerial attempt over long on. But it lands in the safe hands of Amelia Kerr. Matthews has her first wicket of WPL 2024. 

3 RUNS SCORED, 1 WICKET FALLS. 

WICKET Dayalan Hemalatha c Kerr b Matthews 3 (8b 0x4 0x6) SR: 37.5

Amelia Kerr comes into the attack. A few deliveries, she has a big chance! THAT BALL would have HIT THE STUMPS. Hemalatha herself takes a few seconds to realise what’s happened as the ball passes excruciatingly close to the stumps before zooming past the keeper to the fence. Byes called. Seven runs come off the seventh over. Gujarat Giants bring up the team fifty.

Nat Sciver Brunt is back and she has removed the dangerous Phoebe Litchfield who holes out to Keerthana Balakrishnana at short third. Lovely off cutter from NSB. 

Hematha is the new batter in and boy, do these two have a tough task on hand! 

WICKET Phoebe Litchfield c Keerthana b Nat Sciver-Brunt 7 (8b 1x4 0x6) SR: 87.5

Ismail bowls her third straight over. A fair amount of caution on display from this duo as they try and see Ismail off safely. The whole world knows Litchfield is fine with an awkward looking switch hit if it’ll do the trick. Ismail with all her experience is sticking to the basics and happy about Litchfield not being able to dispatch her to the boundary. 

Hayley Matthews comes into the attack. Mooney feels her out in the first delivery and then gets back to back boundaries, one over backward point and the other nudged through the keeper and first slip. Litchfield also finds the boundary a few deliveries later and she’s whipped out the reverse sweep for this one. Gorgeous. 

Ismail returns. She’s trying to draw an error from Harleen Deol and switches between length and full length deliveries. She goes short next and then follows it up with a back of the length delivery that went straight in. Harleen is plumb in front and Ismail has her second wicket. This one was also traveling inwards to top of leg. Charlotte Edwards has her hands up in the dugout. -Phoebe Litchfield is the new batter in and is off the mark right away with a single. Ismail then goes short and the ball goes over Mooney’s head to the boundary. Wide called. 

WICKET Harleen Deol lbw b Ismail 8 (9b 0x4 1x6) SR: 88.88

Nat Sciver-Brunt will share new ball duties with Ismail. She starts with a hint of swing. Harleen then pulls NSB for a sleek six of backward square leg. Gujara wlll need more of this against the kind of hefty batting lineup Mumbai has. Mooney tries to clear the field but the fielder at backward point makes her rush back to her crease. Seven runs come off the over. 

Beth Mooney and Veda Krishnamurthy will get Gujarat underway. Veda is a home girl and has played a lot of cricket at this venue. She will want to make it count here in her team’s opening fixture. Shabnim Ismail will get things going for MI. Mooney gets off the mark straightaway with a couple of runs. Veda looks a bit unsteady as she tries to read the South African’s lines. Ismail then appeals for lbw. Umpire’s finger goes up. Gujarat Giants review. The initial images see her plumb, with the ball potentially heading towards the top of leg. The decision stands. Veda’s WPL debut off to a dismal start with a duck. Harleen is the new batter and is off the mark with a single. 

WICKET Veda Krishnamurthy lbw b Ismail 0 (2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0

Gujarat Giants will get their campaign started on a fresh pitch. This one is a bit greener and will be perfect for a chase-happy MI outfit. Gujarat Giants will need to get a massive score on board to keep MI at bay. 

After a last-place finish and losing its skipper to injury in the inaugural edition, Gujarat Giants and captain Beth Mooney are raring to make amends this time. “I can tell you I’ve done a fair few calf raises this week since I got here, so hopefully we avoid that again,” Mooney said cheekily. “Whilst it was disappointing last year I’m very grateful and lucky to be given an opportunity again to lead the team,” she added. 

Not much went the Giants’ way in 2023 as the outfit finished dead last. Frustrating results and an injury to her fingers notwithstanding, Sneh’s confidence never wavered as she carried her team through a trying first attempt in the tournament.

Read the full interview here. 

Our failures don’t define us, says Sneh Rana as Gujarat Giants looks to turn tide in WPL 2024

Not much went the Giants’ way in 2023 as the outfit finished dead last. Frustrating results and an injury to her fingers notwithstanding, Sneh’s confidence never wavered as she carried her team through a trying first attempt in the tournament.

Gujarat Giants

Beth Mooney(w/c), Veda Krishnamurthy, Phoebe Litchfield, Harleen Deol, Ashleigh Gardner, Dayalan Hemalatha, Sneh Rana, Tanuja Kanwar, Kathryn Bryce, Lea Tahuhu Meghna Singh 

Mumbai Indians

Hayley Matthews, Yastika Bhatia(w), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Amelia Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar, Amanjot Kaur, S Sajana, Shabnim Ismail, Keerthana Balakrishnan, Saika Ishaque

Harmanpreet Kaur wins the toss and Mumbai Indians will bowl first.

Wooden spoon holder in 2023, Gujarat Giants will have its task cut out when it takes on defending champion Mumbai Indians to start its Women’s Premier League 2024 campaign at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium today.

Read the full preview by Mayank here

- Five teams will face off against each other in the nearly month-long tournament

- Mumbai Indians is the defending champion

- Captains of the teams: 

Mumbai Indians: Harmanpreet Kaur

Delhi Capitals: Meg Lanning

UP Warriorz: Alyssa Healy

Gujarat Giants: Beth Mooney

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Smriti Mandhana

You can follow the live telecast of the Women’s Premier League on Sports18 and stream it on Jio Cinema.