WPL 2024: Harmanpreet Kaur blitzkrieg takes Mumbai Indians to playoffs

Harmanpreet Kaur on Saturday played one of the best knocks in the Women’s Premier League history, smashing an unbeaten 48-ball 95 to guide the Mumbai Indians to a seven-wicket win over the Gujarat Giants at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.

Having opted to bat first, the Giants posted 190/7 thanks to half-centuries from Dayalan Hemalatha and captain Beth Mooney. However, Yastika Bhatia’s fifty followed by a blitzkrieg by Kaur saw Mumbai chase down the target with a ball to spare. The win sees Mumbai secure their spot in the playoffs while the Giants are all but out of the tournament.

The Giants had come into the clash having won their first match of the season against the Delhi Capitals thanks to a 140-run stand between openers Mooney and Laura Wolvaardt. The duo could not do a repeat of their heroics from their last match as Hayley Matthews bowled Wolvaardt in the third over.

In Hemalatha, Mooney found an able partner as the duo took on the Mumbai bowlers to stitch together a 121-run stand off 62 balls. Harmanpreet threw the ball to Sajana Sajeevan and she struck with her first ball to get rid of Mooney.

Phoebe Litchfield, Ashleigh Gardner and Hemalatha also departed as Mumbai struck regularly...

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