Bengaluru, Feb 26:
Amelia Kerr (31, 4/17) starred with a fantastic allround performance as defending champions Mumbai Indians made it two wins in the first two matches after beating Gujarat Giants in Match 3 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
A brilliant bowling performance from Mumbai Indians, led by the fiery Shabnim Ismail (3/18) and astute Kerr (4/17), helped the defending champions restrict GG to 126/9.
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur (46*) and Kerr (31) then played composed knocks to help MI chase down the target with 11 balls to spare after an early stutter.
Chasing 127, MI stuttered early, losing openers Yastika Bhatia and Hayley Matthews inside the first four overs. After crucial knocks with the bat for GG, Kathryn Bryce and Tanuja Kanwer carried forward the confidence in the second innings and dismissed Bhatia and Hayley Matthews, respectively, to provide a good start.
Nat Sciver-Brunt then released some pressure with creative stroke-play, hitting three fours off scoop shots. Just as MI were gaining some momentum, a brilliant tag-team fielding effort from Kanwer and Mooney ran out Sciver-Brunt (22 off 18).
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Amelia Kerr then got together, steadied the ship with singles, twos and an odd boundary an over to bring calmness and composure to the chase as MI reached 100 in the 14th over, with the equation coming down to 27 off 36.
The two added 66(50) for the fourth wicket to put MI in the driver’s seat before Lea Tahuhu finally provided GG with the breakthrough by trapping Kerr (31 off 25) LBW. There was a slight stutter as MI lost Pooja Vastrakar soon for 1. Captain Kaur (46* off 41), though, kept her calm and took MI past the finish line in style with a six to win the match by five wickets.
Earlier, Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to field. Pacer Shabnim Ismail breathed fire early on and once again struck early as she trapped Veda Krishnamurthy, who reviewed unsuccessfully, LBW off just the fourth ball of the match. She then dismissed Harleen Deol, who also reviewed unsuccessfully, in a similar fashion in her next over to provide Mumbai Indians the perfect start.
