WPL 2024: All-round Mumbai Indians hands Royal Challengers Bangalore second consecutive loss
For the second game in a row, the raucous home crowd was silenced as Mumbai Indians (MI) handed Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) a seven-wicket drubbing in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) encounter at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Saturday.
Nat Sciver-Brunt (2/27 and 27 off 25) led from the front and helped MI chase 132 in 15.1 overs after restricting RCB to 131 for six.
Yastika Bhatia began the chase in style as she drove Renuka Thakur’s full-length delivery past mid-on for four. Hayley Matthews followed suit and sent the short ball over cover for the second boundary of the over.
Mumbai raced to fifty in just 4.4 overs after losing Yastika, who holed out to Richa Ghosh after scoring a quickfire 31 off 15 in the previous over.
The strategic time-out brought a wicket for the home team as Shreyanka Patil removed a set Matthews on 26 when the West Indies all-rounder mistimed a punch and offered a regulation catch to Smriti Mandhana at extra cover.
But with 63 needed off 74, RCB bowlers could not do much as Amelia Kerr and Sciver-Brunt combined for a 49-run stand. Pooja Vastrakar joined Kerr after Sciver-Brunt was dismissed by Georgia Wareham and took MI to its third win.
Earlier, Ellyse Perry (44 n.o., 38b, 5×4) took RCB to a modest total after being put into bat following a clinical bowling performance by MI, led by Vastrakar (3-0-14-2).
Harmanpreet Kaur and Shabnim Ismail were unavailable again and Sciver-Brunt walked out for the toss. For RCB, Nadine de Klerk made way for a fit-again Perry.
Sciver-Brunt’s first change in the attack – Issy Wong – delivered quickly. She took just three balls to dismiss RCB skipper Mandhana, leaving the home fans disappointed.
S. Meghana got off the mark with a stunning flick, but Sciver-Brunt soon ended her stay with a slower one, the top edge ballooning to short fine-leg fielder B. Keerthana.
Opener Sophie Devine’s poor show with the bat continued as left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque trapped her in front. Three overs later, Pooja removed Ghosh as the host slid to 42 for four.
Perry counter-attacked and found an able ally in Wareham. The former’s solid backfoot play saw her handle pacers – Vastrakar and Wong – with ease and also strike a few boundaries.
The Australian duo propelled RCB past 100 in 16 overs when Wareham, looking to up the ante, was caught by Kerr off Sciver-Brunt. The sixth-wicket partnership was worth 52, but it could not prevent MI from climbing the top of the WPL standings.