WPL 2023: MI wins over RCB by 9 Wickets!

MI vs RCB: Mumbai Indians 159 for 1 (Matthews 77*, Sciver-Brunt 55*) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 155 (Ghosh 28, Matthews 3-28, Ishaque 2-26) by 9 wickets

Before being picked up by Mumbai Indians in the accelerated round, West Indies’ Hayley Matthews was not sold in the first round of the WPL auction, which took place just before the Women’s T20 World Cup began. Even though it was surprising, you could make sense of it.

Matthews was in charge of a West Indies team that had a hard time coming back from a losing streak. Prior to their victory over Pakistan in their final T20 World Cup match, they had lost 15 T20Is in a row, including one via the Super Over. She also tried moving down the order from her preferred opening spot before returning to the top in an effort to revive West Indies’ sagging batting lineup.

Matthews impressed everyone at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, including the raucous stand next to the sight screen at the commentators’ box end, with a stellar all-around performance. one that keeps giving West Indies hope as they try to climb out of a low point.

“We were weighing up our options and thought we didn’t have enough money, but we certainly did [eventually]. This tournament, like franchise cricket, is really good for Hayley and it’s good to see her do that in the last couple of days. [During the strategic break] I told her these are the days you need to cash in and on such grounds.”

Mumbai head coach Charlotte Edwards told the host broadcasters as Matthews was helping them coast against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Matthews finished Royal Challengers almost entirely by herself. She came back in the final over to dismiss Smriti Mandhana after an 11-run opening over in which she hit a four and a six, respectively. She threw one outside off to get Mandhana to give her a charge before the batter sliced it to point due to a dip and turn. She slipped in a full one on the very next ball, which went under Heather Knight’s flick, resulting in her dismissal for a first-ball duck.

Matthews had assisted Mumbai in defeating Royal Challengers in the initial arm wrestle

Royal Challengers were able to get past 100 in 12 overs from 71 for 5 with the assistance of two young players named Richa Ghosh and Kanika Ahuja. While Ahuja attacked the seamers, Ghosh was content to punish the bad balls. Matthews was summoned once more an over after Pooja Vastrakar got rid of Ahuja, and she delivered by getting Ghosh to slog one straight to deep midwicket. Only Karnataka’s Shreyanka Patil’s brilliant counterattack allowed Royal Challengers to reach 150 and have some hope.

Those hopes were completely dashed by Matthews. In the opening over, she used Renuka Singh’s width to steer one past point before flicking one through square leg in the third. After that, she hit Preeti Bose, a left-arm spinner, over deep square leg before returning to a half-tracker and punching it over covers.

Matthews’ next target was Megan Schutt, who had earlier scored a 20-ball 14-ball score. Mumbai reached 54 for 1 at the conclusion of the powerplay after Matthews hit a shot through the covers before timing the straight drive past the bowler. Bose caught Bhatia for the phase’s only wicket.

Even after the fielding restrictions were lifted, Matthews hit Renuka for two fours in an over and eventually made her half-century off just 26 balls with Mumbai on 95 for 1 at the ten-over mark. In the first match, Renuka narrowly missed out. The center of Nat Sciver-Brunt was reduced to a postscript.

Mumbai then scored the remaining 61 runs in 26 balls to secure a second crushing victory. Nat contributed 55 not out off 29 balls as Matthews returned with a huge smile and an unbeaten 77 off just 38 balls.

Matthews’ lack of picks in the first round of the WPL auction can only be explained by two words: “auction dynamics” after those exploits.