In a thrilling encounter at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain of Mumbai Indians, showcased her batting prowess by scoring an unbeaten 95 runs, steering her team to a nail-biting victory over Beth Mooney’s Gujarat Giants on the final ball of the match.

This victory propelled Mumbai Indians to 10 points from their initial seven games, securing their berth as the first team to qualify for the playoffs in the tournament.

Winning the toss, Mooney elected to bat first for her team. Mumbai Indians received an early breakthrough when Hayley Matthews dismissed opener Laura Wolvaardt in the third over. Despite this setback, Mooney and Dayalan Hemalatha orchestrated a remarkable 121-run partnership, both achieving half-centuries before Mooney was dismissed by Sajeevan Sajana. Mooney’s explosive innings, comprising 66 runs off 35 deliveries, included eight boundaries and three sixes.

Following Mooney’s departure, Gujarat Giants lost wickets in quick succession, with Saika Ishaque accounting for Phoebe Litchfield’s dismissal and Pooja Vastrakar cleaning up Ashleigh Gardner, leaving Gujarat Giants at 159 for 4. Hemalatha continued her aggressive batting, amassing 74 runs off 40 balls before being dismissed by pacer Shabnim Ismail in the 17th over. Bharti Fulmali’s quickfire 21 off 13 balls propelled Gujarat Giants to a total of 190 for 7 in the first innings.

Harmanpreet’s Heroics Seal Mumbai’s Playoff Spot in Thrilling Last-Ball Victory

In response, Yastika Bhatia and Mathews provided a solid start for Mumbai Indians, stitching a 50-run partnership before Tanuja Kanwar claimed Mathews’ wicket in the sixth over. Despite losing wickets at regular intervals, Yastika held the innings together, falling just short of her half-century with 49 runs off 36 deliveries.

Harmanpreet Kaur then took charge of the chase, notching up her second half-century of the season off 33 balls. She formed a crucial partnership with all-rounder Amelia Kerr, particularly targeting spinner Sneh Rana in the 18th over to bring the chase down to 23 runs from the last 12 balls. With Mumbai Indians needing 13 runs off the final over, Harmanpreet smashed Gardner for a six off the first ball and steered her team to victory with an unbeaten 95 off 48 balls, embellished with 10 boundaries and five sixes.

With this triumph, Mumbai Indians ascended to the top of the WPL 2024 points table, securing five wins from their first seven matches. Meanwhile, Gujarat Giants languished at the bottom of the table with only two points from six games.

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