The 12th match of the Women’s T20 League was played between Mumbai and Gujarat at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday, March 14, 2023. The Mumbai-based franchise are on a roll as they beat Gujarat by 55 runs and confirmed their playoff spot, they have won five back-to-back matches in the tournament.
Talking about the whole match, Gujarat won the toss and elected to bowl first. Their decision proved right as they got the early breakthrough in the first over. Mumbai’s destructive opener Hayley Matthews was dismissed on duck. However, later, Yastika Bhatia and Nat Sciver-Brunt added 74 for the 2nd wicket. The platform was built for Harmanpreet Kaur to play an inning of substance.
And the skipper didn’t disappoint as she played a brilliant knock of 51 runs off just 31 balls which included 7 fours and 2 sixes. But later, they started losing wickets at regular intervals of time but still finished with a competitive total of 162 runs on the scoreboard. Gujarat’s Ashleigh Gardener bowled brilliantly and picked up 3 wickets in 4 overs. Skipper Sneh Rana also bowled well as she conceded only 17 runs in 4 overs and took a wicket as well.
Brilliant bowling performance by Mumbai
Chasing the target, the Mumbai-based franchise displayed another brilliant bowling performance as they started the second innings with a wicket in the very first ball as Sciver-Brunt got Sophia Dunkley lbw. And after this, their batting lineup scattered like a pack of cards as they suffered a horrible collapse. Gujarat never make a comeback from there and lost the match by 55 runs.
Gujarat skipper, Sneh talked about the loss after the match and said, "I am proud of the girls for restricting Mumbai to 162, it was a good start, but unfortunately we couldn't get there. It was a chasable score. Definitely, batters need to focus right through, need to build at least two partnerships, Harleen was fantastic today in the field, she took a catch and effected a run-out. We will definitely work on our batting." Sneh Rana said in the post-match conference.
With this win, the Harmanpreet-led team are the no.1 contender to win the first-ever title as their bowling is top-notch, the batting never looked in trouble and they have also displayed a great performance in the fielding department as well.
Here’s how fans reacted:
Beauty merchants can't relate
— ictstan (@ictstan4518) March 14, 2023
Dream for haarcb
— sidak (@sidak1717) March 14, 2023
Ambani magic
— Tej 11 (@ttejAMIT16) March 14, 2023
Dream for Kohli
— 𝖑𝖚𝖕𝖎𝖓 🇮🇲 (@stfubivxh) March 14, 2023
Rohit Sharma Zindabad!!
— ROHIT AND RISHABH PLANET (@R_and_R_planet) March 14, 2023
Harmanpreet kaur Zindabad!!
5 consecutive wins & 5 consecutive losses, The difference is clear 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6hv7IUpG9R
— aadityaa (@Aditya_M9) March 14, 2023
Harman Preet Kaur is a player what chokli always dreams to be
— Ň€ŇØҜҜΔĐIŇ€ (@MBnRohit3) March 14, 2023
meanwhile jersey number 18 pic.twitter.com/lDO0nXo14H
— RK (@MahiGOAT07) March 14, 2023
First time mi captain performing 🎭
— aashu (@Damselindreams) March 14, 2023