Sciver-Brunt, Mathews power Mumbai Indians into second WPL final

Mumbai Indians 213 for 4 (Sciver-Brunt 77, Matthews 77, Harmanpreet 36, Gibson 2-40) beat Gujarat Giants 166 (Gibson 34, Litchfield 31, Matthews 3-31, Kerr 2-28) by 47 runs

Majestic batting from Nat Sciver-Brunt, middle-overs acceleration from Hayley Matthews, and power-hitting from Harmanpreet Kaur helped post a daunting total of 213 for Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator. That proved to be too much for Gujarat Giants, as Mumbai’s 47-run win stretched their unbeaten record to 7-0 against Giants and powered them into their second WPL final in three years. On Saturday, they will be facing Delhi Capitals in a repeat of the 2023 finale.

Giants were without Deandra Dottin for their first knockout game in three WPLs after the allrounder hurt herself only five minutes before the toss, and was replaced by England’s Danielle Gibson. Giants didn’t do themselves any favours as they misfielded through the innings and put down four catches that cost them heavily. And in the run chase, they lost their three top-scorers of this season – Beth Mooney, Harleen Deol and Ashleigh Gardner – in the powerplay as Mumbai held on to their catches and effected run-outs.

Phoebe Litchfield scored a quickfire 31 off 20 balls, but once she was stumped off Amelia Kerr, Giants were all but out of the chase on 107 for 5, with the asking rate above 13 runs an over.

Full report to follow…