Delhi Capitals, after their batting, found themselves in a terrible situation but it’s Meg Lanning’s team, and knows perfectly how to play under pressure. They had to defend 132 runs. But Mumbai Indians, with big names in the batting department, were outclassed by Delhi’s tight bowling at first.
To predict the winner was impossible, for Mumbai played slowly. Amelia Kerr’s cameo in the penultimate over was the turning point of the match and soon, a four off Nat Sciver-Brunt- tonight’s star- won the match for the Mumbai Indians on Sunday, March 26, at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.
Hayley Matthews and Yastika Bhatia couldn’t give Mumbai the start they needed. Though Radha Yadav dismissed Bhaita to give the first breakthrough in the second over, Jess Jonassen got rid of the dangerous Matthews two overs later.
Then all Delhi Capitals needed next was to get rid of one of the next two batters- Nat Sciver-Brunt and Harmanpreet Kaur. Both played careful knocks slowly but an error by Harmanpreet ended her knock.
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Twitteratis can’t keep calm as Mumbai Indians win dramatic WPL final vs Delhi Capitals
Delhi bowlers had an answer in front of the Mumbai skipper, but a run out by Shikha Pandey sent Harmanpreet Kaur into packing. She departed after scoring 37 runs from 39 balls, including five boundaries. Notably, the skippers from both the teams departed off run out as Meg Lanning also became a victim of runout, off Amanjot Kaur.
This match was an example of a low-scoring thriller. In the penultimate over, Mumbai Indians opened their arms for big shots. On the first ball off the 19th over, Nat Sciver-Brunt smashed a boundary to complete another half-century off 52 balls.
Amelia Kerr, who came after Harmanpreet, played fearlessly. With two fours off Jonassen’s delivery, all Mumbai Indians needed were five runs off the final over. Just one or two big hits would have wrapped the innings in Mumbai’s favor and the Mumbai dressing room must have smelled victory after the 19th over.
Mumbai Indians were on the threshold of becoming the champion when just two runs were needed off the last four balls. They made history when Nat Sciver-Brunt played a lap shot which sent the ball to the boundary to win the match by seven wickets. Nat was the star of the match with her unbeaten 60 off 55 balls with seven fours. But it was Amelia Kerr’s cameo that turned the tables. She remained unbeaten at 14 runs off eight balls.
Earlier, Issy Wong and Hayley Matthews ran through Delhi’s batting line-up, before the Brabourne Stadium fans saw Shikha Pandey and Radha Yadav‘s show. While Wong and Matthews scalped three wickets each, Shikha and Radha stitched an unbeaten 52-run stand between them to take Delhi to 131/9 at a time when reaching the 100 looked near impossible. Notably, a team under Harmanpreet Kaur has never drafted a team led by Meg Lanning in international cricket in the final, the WPL final saw something different.
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