NAVI: Following her side’s 72-run win over UP Warriorz in their Women’s Premier League (WPL) match, Mumbai Indians all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt said that the wicket was nice for batting and she surprised herself with some of her shots.
Nat Sciver-Brunt’s unbeaten 72 followed by Issy Wong’s hat-trick helped Mumbai Indians register a comprehensive win over UP Warriorz in the eliminator of the ongoing Women’s Premier League (WPL) here at DY Patil Sports Academy on Friday.
“The crowd was incredible tonight. The noise when Wongy took the hat-trick was incredible, if we could bottle that energy up and take it, it would be great. The wicket tonight was very nice for batting. We needed a good score on the board to defend it. It was very enjoyable bating out there, surprised myself with a few shots actually. It swung nicely up here, really good fun. Yeah absolutely and really excited to make it to the final and hopefully enjoy yourselves,” said Nat-Sciver in a post-match presentation.
With this win, Mumbai Indians have reached the final of the WPL, where they will take on Delhi Capitals.
After being put to bat first by UP Warriorz, Mumbai Indians put on 182/4 in their 20 overs. A quickfire knock from Nat Sciver (72 off 38 balls, consisting of nine fours and two sixes) proved to be extremely helpful for MI in posting a competitive total. She had a 60-run stand for the fourth wicket with Melie Kerr (29 off 19 balls). Openers Yastika Bhatia (21) and Hayley Matthews (26) also put up decent contributions.
Sophie Ecclestone was the pick of the bowlers for UP Warriorz, taking 2/39 in four overs. Parshavi Chopra and Anjali Sarvani took a wicket each.
In the chase of 183, UP Warriorz did not look like a threat at all. Except for Kiran Navgire (43 off 27 balls), no other batter could touch the 20-run mark. In the 13th over of the match, Issy swung things in MI’s favour completely by dismissing Kiran, Simran Shaikh (0) and Sophie Ecclestone (0) within three straight balls to take the first-ever hat-trick of WPL.
UPW lost wickets on regular basis and were bundled out for 110 in 17.4 overs.
Wong (4/15) finished as the pick of the bowlers for MI. Saika Ishaque also took 2/24 in her four overs. Nat Sciver, Hayley Matthews, Jintimani Kalita took one wicket each.
Nat Sciver Brunt was given the ‘Player of the Match’ award for her match-winning performance.
Brief score: Mumbai Indians 182/4 (Nat Sciver-Brunt 72*, Amelie Kerr 29; Sophie Ecclestone 2-39) vs UP Warriorz 110 (Kiran Navgire 43; Issy Wong 4/15). (ANI)