Harmanpreet lights up WPL Day for Mumbai in 143-run win

Mumbai Indians 207 for 5 (Harmanpreet 65, Matthews 47, Kerr 45*) beat Gujarat Giants 64 (Hemalatha 29*, Ishaque 4-11, Sciver-Brunt 2-5) by 143 runs

Despite all the glitzy build-up, what the inaugural Women's Premier League needed to truly blast-off was an I'm her performance. And it came from Harmanpreet Kaur.

In many ways the Mumbai Indians captain's 30-ball 65 could well be for the WPL what Brendon McCullum's 158 was to the IPL.

It was as if Harmanpreet wanted to vent the ire of that run-out that turned the Women's T20 World Cup 2023 semi-final in Australia's favour. Gujarat Giants had filled all four of their overseas quota with Australians. And that was reason enough.

Harmanpreet found herself in the middle in the ninth over, with Mumbai at 69 for 2. She saw a set batter in Nat Sciver-Brunt depart after a 54-run partnership with Hayley Matthews, who was also dismissed in the next over to leave Mumbai at 77 for 3. After her Player-of-the-Series performance in the T20 World Cup, Ashleigh Gardner had yet again left a mark.

But Harmanpreet didn't care. She just attacked the ball, like she has been doing for a long, long time for India. A fortunate outside edge in a attempted drive got her going before she timed a Sneh Rana ball through extra cover.

But that was merely the prelude. The 12th over showcased Harmanpreet at her Harmanbest. And obviously it was filled with sweep shots - one through backward square leg and another through forward square leg. Georgia Wareham, the bowler, could do little to stop the runs. Even Gardner felt the full force - and range - of Harmanpreet's sweep, one ball hit powerfully through midwicket, the next paddled deftly past short fine.

By now, Harmanpreet was in overdrive. She hit seven fours off successive balls to bring up a 22-ball half-century, the first in the WPL. The famous bat-swing was on show. The confidence perhaps never left. Glimpses of her T20I hundred, that ODI knock, or more recently the unbeaten 143 were all on show. Sweeps, check. Pulls, check. Slices and scythes, check. Courtesy her hitting and Amelia Kerr's able support, Mumbai were able to score 46 between overs 14 and 16 that gave them a launchpad.

And all this despite having little practice in the lead up.

"Practice karne ko mila hi nahi (I couldn't get time to practice)!" she said about her training ahesd of the knock. "There was very little time and I had a lot of commitments as a player and a captain."

But the key for the "over-thinker" in Harmanpreet was to calm herself and bring clarity in her thoughts and get herself "in the zone".

"When I am calmer and be in the moment, it helps in giving clarity," she said. "Being in that zone isn't easy but when I am calm it gives me clarity. To be in that zone isn't easy but I have to keep talking to myself and be in the present. When I am in that zone I am clearer in picking my areas and things become easy for me, and today was that day when I was relaxed".

All of Mumbai rose to applaud Harmanpreet when she finally fell, slicing one to short third off Rana in the 17th over, bringing the curtain down on an 89-run stand with Kerr off just 42 balls. Kerr then stepped up to lead the attack on the Giants as Mumbai added 41 off the next three overs to finish on 207 for 5. Their total of 207 for 5 was the joint-second highest across all major Women's T20 leagues (WBBL, Kia Super League, The Hundred, Women's CPL, T20 Challenge and now the WPL) behind Sydney Sixers' 242 for 4 against Melbourne Stars in 2017-18.

Much like that starry night in 2008, the opposition on the receiving end of a truly astonishing T20 innings just couldn't cope. It didn't help that their captain and top-scorer at the T20 World Cup final, Beth Mooney, retired hurt after seemingly injuring her knee before the first over of the chase was even done. Giants were 8 for 3 by the end of the fourth over. Then 23 for 7 by the eighth over. And finally bowled out in the 16th to lose by 143 runs.

Matthews' fireworks complement Harmanpreet

If Harmanpreet's knock was the fire, Matthews' quick start at the top was the spark Mumbai needed to announce themselves in the WPL. Matthews' hard-hitting truly set them on their way to begin with a win. She played a pick-up shot off seamer Mansi Joshi's first ball over deep square leg, before slicing one past backward point for four. She then drove left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwar through covers to finish the powerplay on 22 out of Mumbai's 44.

Matthews then showed why she is rated highly with a display of hitting three sixes in the space of seven balls. She first flicked a full ball over long leg off seamer Annabel Sutherland before just pressing forward and lofting her over cow corner a couple of deliveries later. In the next over, she once again cleared her front leg, used her reach to hit Wareham well over long-on.

Matthews then used the depth of her crease to slap Gardner through cover-point before the latter got the better of her for a 31-ball 47.

Giants were never in the hunt in their 206-run chase especially after captain Beth Mooney hobbled off the field in the first over due to possibly jarring her knee. Sciver-Brunt then had Harleen Deol skying one to deep third off her first ball via a leading edge before castling S Meghana. In the interim, fast bowler Issy Wong's pace undid Gardner for a first-ball duck as Giants lost three wickets in 15 balls.

Bengal's left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque then ran through the middle order to crush any hopes Giants would have had of a resurgence. Only Dayalan Hemalatha, with 29 not out, and Monica Patel finished in double digits for them.

Turning point

Mumbai had just started to find the next gear with Harmanpreet and Kerr in the middle and were 124 for 3 after 13 overs. But Monica's second over truly helped them gain full control. She bowled full and outside off from around the stumps, which Kerr drove through cover-point. A single later, Harmanpreet tore the left-arm seamer's bowling apart.

Harmanpreet first drove her through cover-point, and when Monica switched to over the wicket, she pummeled her through square leg. Monica then went full and outside off only to be driven through covers. The last of fours in that over was perhaps the best of it all - Harmanpreet opened the face of her bat ever so slightly to drive it square through covers. A total of 21 were scored in that over.