Mumbai, March 13
Hayley Matthews followed up her knock of 77 by picking 3-31 as Mumbai Indians set up a title clash in Women's Premier League (WPL) 2025 with the Delhi Capitals after beating Gujarat Giants by 47 runs in the Eliminator at the Brabourne Stadium here on Thursday.
After knocks of 77 from Hayley and Nat Sciver-Brunt, along with a breathtaking 36 from captain Harmanpreet Kaur, took MI to a massive 213/4, the West Indies captain shone with her off-spin bowling to pick three wickets, as GG were bowled out for 166 in 19.2 overs.
She also got good support from Amelia Kerr, who picked two wickets, while Nat and Shabnim Ismail were also among the wickets as they sealed MI's place in playing the summit clash against DC at the same venue on Saturday.
Shabnim struck for Mumbai when Beth Mooney's outside edge was pouched by Hayley, moving to her right at first slip. Harleen Deol and Danielle Gibson hit five boundaries between themselves before the former was run out by an accurate throw from Sanskriti Gupta and Yastika Bhatia, dislodging the stumps in time.
Hayley made a massive dent into GG's already behind-going chase by castling Asheigh Gardner for eight. Despite Danielle and Phoebe Litchfield dealing with boundaries, it couldn't help in bringing the required run rate down to a manageable one for GG.
A powerful throw by Amanjot Kaur from deep mid-wicket resulted in Danielle being run out for 34, while Phoebe missed a googly from Amelia and was stumped for 31. After a mix-up resulted in Kashvee Gautam's run out, Bharti Fulmali and Simran Shaikh tried delaying the inevitable with a flurry of boundaries before the former's off-stump was knocked down by Hayley.
From there, Amelia, Nat and Hayley took a wicket each to ensure MI made it to their second WPL final and keep their clean slate against GG intact in front of their home crowd comprising their team owners and IPL team counterparts.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 213/4 in 20 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 77, Hayley Matthews 77; Danielle Gibson 2-40, Kashvee Gautam 1-30) beat Gujarat Giants 166 in 19.2 overs (Danielle Gibson 34, Phoebe Litchfield 31; Hayley Matthews 3-31, Amelia Kerr 2-28) by 47 runs
- IANS