WPL 2023: Sciver’s smasher and Wong’s 4-fer leads MI to the finals.

Fantabulous game by the Mumbai Indians, becoming the first team to make it to the finals of the inaugural season. What a journey it has been for Harmanpreet Kaur’s Mumbai Indians!

The team defeated UP Warriorz and won a deserving game over the team. A huge defeat for the team that played brilliantly throughout the series, but unfortunately couldn’t make it against the Mumbai Paltan.

UP Warriorz won the toss at the DY Patil Stadium and opted to chase. A wise decision given the pitch report, but least were they aware of the Wong storm that was on its way. While Yastika Bhatia and Hayley Matthews were off for a slow start against the Warriorz, they did play a foundational game.

Bhatia was lost early and Matthews was joined by Natalie Sciver Brunt. A jaw-dropping inning from Natalie Sciver. What a game, as she smashed the balls off for boundaries, playing at a strike rate of 190. Sciver contributed a total of 72 runs in just 38 deliveries which proved to be the major highlight of the game. A deserving semi final inning played by Sciver, which was also backed by a few runs contributed by Amelia Kerr and Harmanpreet Kaur.

Sciver’s impressive game dropped MI off to a total of 182 runs in 20 overs. For the Warriorz, Sophie Ecclestone shined as always, carrying two wickets, but the bowling side failed as an entirety to restrict the opponents to a low score.

With a huge score to chase, the Warriorz team entered with high hopes for the team. Unfortunately, Shweta Sehrawat’s way too early wicket was only followed by destruction for the team. Kiran Navgire did try to stabilise the team as she secured 43 runs in all. But her slow and safe game was not able to defeat the score set by Sciver’s fierce batting in the first inning.

Issy Wong shined with ball in hand. She picked the major wickets which included batters like Alyssa Healy, Kiran Navgire, Simran Shaikh and Sophie Ecclestone. Wong picked timely wickets, obstructing the opponent’s opportunity to breath between overs.

Wong’s 4-fer was backed by Saika Ishaque’s 2 wickets and this led to the team’s ultimate destruction. Warriorz lost all their wickets in just 17.4 overs. A quick game for Mumbai Indians as they packed up destructing the opponents.

Warriorz failed against Mumbai’s fierce bowling performance. They were able to secure 110 runs and lost the game by a huge margin of 72 runs to Mumbai who has now escalated to the finals. Natalie Sciver was named the Player of the match for her 72 runs’ contribution and a wicket against UP Warriorz.

Mumbai Indians defeated RCB and now UP Warriorz to make it to the finals alongside Delhi Capitals. The finals will be held on 26^th March at the legendary Brabourne Stadium.

Brief Scores:

MI 182/4 (Natalie Sciver Brunt 72 (38), Sophie Ecclestone 2/32) won against UPW 110/10 (Kiran Navgire 43 (27), Issy Wong 4/15) by 72 runs.