MI W vs RCB W | Sciver-Brunt scripts history with first WPL century as Mumbai Indians overcome Richa scare

Venkateswaran N

ByVenkateswaran N,SportsCafe Editor

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Mumbai Indians beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 15 runs in a Women’s Premier League game in Vadodara. Nat Sciver-Brunt smashed an unbeaten century to power MI to a formidable total while Hayley Matthews shone with an all-round performance as Richa Ghosh’s unbelievable rearguard went in vain.

Mumbai Indians celebrate a scalp against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the WPL in Vadodara
‌Nat Sciver-Brunt created history in the Women’s Premier League becoming the first player to score a century in the tournament as Mumbai Indians beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 15 runs in Vadodara on Monday. The MI all-rounder smashed 16 fours and a six during her unbeaten knock of 100 in just 57 balls to take the side to one short of 200 while Hayley Matthews had a brilliant outing scoring a half-century and picking up three wickets. However, MI was given a scare as Richa smashed six sixes and 10 fours during stupendous counter attacking knock of 90 off 50 balls that eventually went in vain. The win meant the Mumbai-based outfit jumped to second in the points table and brightening their playoff prospects while RCB will have to win their final group game to directly qualify for the final.

After being put into bat at the Kotambi Stadium, the Mumbai Indians had an excellent start with Matthews hitting a boundary off the very first ball from Lauren Bell. However, the wicket of fellow opener Sajana Sajeevan, and two quiet overs towards the end of the pwoerplay meant that MI finished the six-over mark at a middling 38/1. But the experienced duo of Matthews and Nat Sciver-Brunt did not panic as they compensated beautifully after the field restrictions went off. The England captain welcomed Shreyanka Patil with two boundaries in her opening over while Matthews also joined in with three fours in the space of six deliveries. There was no stopping the pair as Sciver-Brunt smashed Nadine de Klerk for the first six of the game before backing that up with three boundaries in Shreyanka’s next over. The second of those brought up her fifty, in just 32 balls after being on 11 off 13 balls at the end of the powerplay. The side also went past the 100-run mark in the same over with Matthews hitting yet another four off the last ball to make it 18 runs from the off-spinner’s second. Though RCB skipper Smriti Mandhana brought back Radha Yadav, the boundaries were hard to stop as a whopping 36 runs came in the next two overs, including six hits to the fence. Meanwhile, the West Indies all-rounder completed her half-century before being dismissed for 56 off 39 balls by a returning Lauren Bell to break the mammoth 131-run stand for the second wicket. However, Sciver-Brunt continued to find boundaries with ease before becoming completing the much-anticipated milestone in the last over. MI ended at an imposing 199/4 as captain Harmanpreet Kaur also chipped in with an entertaining cameo, . With Sciver-Brunt taking all the bowlers to the cleaners, Bell was the only player to finish under an economy of six with an impressive spell of 2/21 in four overs.

RCB’s chase, however, went awry after a very brief period of promise with Smriti Mandhana getting off the mark with an excellent cover drive in her first ball. Meanwhile, Grace Harris looked aggressive with three boundaries off Sciver-Brunt before being packed off by a fiery Shabnim Ismail in the next over. With Matthews accounting for Mandhana and Georgia Voll in her first over and Shabnim castling Gautami Naik with a lightning quick delivery, RCB looked down and out. Matthews made things worse getting Radha for her third scalp of the night as the batting unit ended the powerplay at 40/5. From then on, there was only one way the match was going to end though Richa Ghosh and De Klerk (28) delayed the inevitable with a 42-run stand for the sixth wicket. The Indian wicketkeeper-batter then fought on with another valuable partnership of 52 with Arundhati Reddy, completing her fifty as well in the process. But with Arundhati and Sayali Satghare getting out for consecutive deliveries, it was left to Richa as the target steeped to 71 off the final three. However, she came up with a stunning assault smashing all her six maximums and a boundary in that period, including a 27-run over from Amanjot Kaur, to put MI on the edge and reducing the margin of the defeat.

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