Mumbai Indians Vs Gujarat Giants, WPL 2024: Harmanpreet Kaur's Brilliant Knock Helps MI Beat GGT By 7 Wickets - As It Happened

Welcome to the live coverage of match 16 of the Women's Premier League 2024 between Mumbai Indians Women and Gujarat Giants. The stage is set for the battle between two competitive teams with different fortunes in the tournament so far. MI stand currently on the second spot in the points table with four wins in six games whereas Gujarat Giants achieved their maiden victory of the season in the last match and are at the bottom of the table. Another win today will help GGT to remain alive for the race of the top three spots in the points table. The matches in Delhi-leg have been interesting so far and a fighting battle is expected of these two teams today. Follow the live cricket scores and updates of the MI-W Vs GGT match in WPL 2024 here. (Streaming | Full Coverage | Schedule And Points Table)

Gujarat Giants have won the toss and have opted to bat

Teams:

Mumbai Indians Women (Playing XI): Yastika Bhatia(w), Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Amelia Kerr, Amanjot Kaur, S Sajana, Pooja Vastrakar, Humaira Kazi, Shabnim Ismail, Saika Ishaque

Gujarat Giants (Playing XI): Laura Wolvaardt, Beth Mooney(w/c), Phoebe Litchfield, Ashleigh Gardner, Dayalan Hemalatha, Bharati Fulmali, Kathryn Bryce, Sneh Rana, Tanuja Kanwar, Meghna Singh, Shabnam Md Shakil

The pitch looks easy to bat on. The straight boundary is long but the square boundaries are not of equal dimensions. One side boundary is way longer than the other. Batters can target the shorter boundaries to make a huge load of runs.

Vidarbha batter Bharati Fulmali, who came into squad as Harleen Deol's replacement made her WPL debut for Gujarat Giants and received her cap.

Hayley Matthews opened the bowling for Mumbai Indians with Beth Mooney and Laura Wolvaardt opening the batting for Gujarat Giants. She gave just one run off the first over.

GGT - 1/0 (1)

Matthews notices Wolvaardt utilising her feet and bowls it shorter and faster. Wolvaardt is nowhere near it as she attempts to swipe it across, but fails. The ball collides with the stumps. There will be no fireworks from Wolvaardt tonight.

GGT - 19/1 (3)

Pooja Vastrakar came to bowl the seventh over and conceded 13 runs including two fours in the over.

GGT - 65/1 (7)

With a single off the second-last delivery of Shabnim Ismail's third over, Beth Mooney completed her second consecutive fifty.

GGT - 111/1 (11)

Sajana hits her first ball and catches the big fish! A wicket falls shortly after the strategic break. Sajana darts this one on the back of a length in the middle from around the wicket. Mooney rocks back and attempts to bring it across, but the speed is too fast. The ball hits the leg stump. The Giants captain's excellent performance comes to an end.

GGT - 150/2 (14)

Hemalatha goes after delivering a spectacular knock! Hemalatha backs away slightly and attempts to hit it over covers, but only manages to get it off the bottom side of his bat. Amanjot takes the additional cover and reverse cups it.

GGT - 163/5 (17)

Bharati Fulmali played some fabulous shots, in the end to take Gujarat Giants to 190 runs. Now, Mumbai Indians need 191 runs to win this match.

GGT - 190/7 (20)

Brief Score: GGT - 190/7 (20)

Dayalan Hemalatha - 74 (40), Beth Mooney - 66 (35) | Saika Ishaque: (4-0-31-2)

Yastika Bhatia and Hayley Matthews opened the batting for Mumbai Indians and Ashleigh Gardner came to bowl the first over. The first delivery went for byes four but she managed to give only one run in the next five.

MI - 5/0 (1)

Meghna Singh came to bowl her first over in the fifth over. She was smashed for two boundaries by Yastika Bhatia to gather 11 runs off the over.

MI - 45/0 (5)

As gentle as it can be. Sciver-Brunt seeks to loft after angling in for less than a length, but he doesn't get through completely and ends up chipping it straight to mid-on, where Rana makes another grab.

MI - 63/2 (8)

Sneh Rana came to bowl the 12th over and gave 11 runs in that. Harmanpreet Kaur and Sneh Rana hit one boundary each. Chase is on for Mumbai.

MI - 92/2 (12)

The Giants are only now beginning to feel the pressure to perform. Mumbai had to go, and they had to go now; unfortunately Yastika collapses on 49 in pursuit of the team's goal. A length delivery outside off was given air, and Yastika attempted to slog it across the line, with just enough spin to grab the top-edge as it floated towards short mid-wicket, Gardner was quick to move across herself and collected it comfortably.

MI - 100/3 (14)

Shabnam Shakil came to bowl the 17th over and she has been smashed for 18 runs in that.

MI - 144/3 (17)

Something really unusual has occurred here. The sprinklers switched on unexpectedly in between the overs; there appears to be some water pouring from one of them, and the super-sopper is now on, attempting to dry things out rapidly. A break has been taken until the water is soaked completely.

Before that, Harmanpreet Kau went berserk against Sneh Rana and made 24 runs off her over to make the equation 23 runs needed off 12 balls now.

MI - 168/3 (18)

With 13 required off 6 balls, Ashleigh Gardner was smashed for a six then a four by Harman. Then three consecutive singles did the job well for Mumbai Indians as they won the match by seven wickets.

MI - 191/3 (19.5)

I suppose in T20 cricket, you have to bowl effectively to protect these. We believed 190 was an excellent score. It's incredibly difficult. 49m limits are extremely difficult no matter what event you're participating in. Mumbai batted quite well. There are still many positives, and we are obviously clicking as a hitting unit. Just one or two balls aiming towards the boundary can definitely keep things tighter. She (Hemalatha) made my life much easier, and she claimed she enjoyed batting with me. She may fall off her feet one day, but she makes an excellent colleague.

Mumbai Indians became the first team of this season to qualify for the playoffs after a magical win over Gujarat Giants.

It was a really important game for us; we needed to win so that we didn't put any pressure on ourselves (moving ahead). We knew we had a long batting order and could finish the job. Definitely want to finish first and advance directly to the final. I spoke with Himanshu Bhaiya about my batting and how I may develop; I was considering remaining there and looking for a great inning. They are experienced gamers, and when you're pursuing a large total, many things are obvious, such as how much you need. We could then spin the attack and respond as it arrived. We decided to take a short pause, drink some water, and see what message would arrive; we knew that targeting the 19th over would be critical.

Mumbai Indians have qualified for the playoffs thanks to Harmanpreet Kaur's fabulous 95 not out off 48 balls. Gujarat Giants have lost an easy chance and now they are on the brink of elimination. That's all from our side for today. We will be taking your leave. Goodnight!