The much-awaited inaugural edition of the Women’s T20 League finally kicked off on Saturday, March 4, 2023, at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. Mumbai and Gujarat clashed against each other in the first match of the tournament. However, the league started in such a way that no one even imagined.
The Gujarat-based franchise won the toss and elected to bowl first. Initially, it looked like they took the right decision as Tanuja Kanwar struck in the 3rd over of the first innings to send Yastika Bhatia back to the pavilion. However, Nat Sciver-Brunt came to bat at no.3 and joined hands with Mumbai opener Hayley Matthews to provide a good start in the powerplay and both stitched a 54-run stand for the 3rd wicket.
However, the real fireworks came after the 9th over when Mumbai skipper Harmanpreet Kaur came to bat at no.4. Kaur was on a rampage and was dealing in boundaries only as she scored 65 runs off just 30 deliveries, which included 14 fours with a breathtaking strike rate of 216.67. Kaur also got the support from other end as Amelia Kerr played a brilliant inning as well.
Amelia Kerr’s brilliant all-round performance
Kerr smashed 45 runs off just 24 balls, which included 6 fours and 1 six. Mumbai smashed 130 runs in the last 10 overs of the innings and achieved a monumental total of 207 runs. The Gujarat-based franchise needed a great start to chase the target but that didn’t happen as their skipper Beth Mooney got retired hurt after she twisted her ankle.
Since then, no other batters could survive in the middle and Gujarat started losing wickets at a regular intervals. They lost 4 wickets in the powerplay and didn’t look in rhythm and, thus, kept losing wickets after it. Brunt bowed two overs in the powerplay and got 2 wickets as well. Kerr picked up 2 wickets after her magnificent batting display.
Gujarat couldn’t recover as only two batters got into the double digits. Saika Ishaque was the star for them with the ball, as she took a 4-fer. Mumbai recorded a historic win as they became the first team to get a victory in the Women’s T20 League, that too with a huge margin of 143 runs.
Here’s how fans reacted:
Ambani defeats Adani 💪💵
— Cric-Crazy Lad 🎭 (@CricCrazyLad) March 4, 2023
This proves captain harmanpreet >> rohit sharma
— A.ˢᵏʸ ᵇʳⁱ ˢᵗᵃⁿ (@axcashhhh) March 4, 2023
Bodied chokli and chockecb
— Ň€ŇØҜҜΔĐIŇ€ (@MBnRohit3) March 4, 2023
Ambani majic 💪🏻
— Mahesh Sharma || महेश शर्मा (@Xarmah_Mahesh) March 4, 2023
Ambani ki Team ne Adani ke Team ko Pel diya..
— ٖ (@Sarkesam) March 4, 2023
Sack vadapao dogma
— badBunny (@badBunny010) March 4, 2023
— Vaibhav Arora (@Savage_vaibhav) March 4, 2023
Mooney phn uthao mazak nahi raha atleast 49 runs karwao😭😭😭😭
— Arka (@ARKA0432) March 4, 2023
