MI gives Monday “Blues” to GG; here’s a look at a few numbers

In a nail biting thriller, Mumbai Indians beat Gujarat Giants by nine runs on Monday at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai to jump from third to second spot in the points table of WPL 2025. Mumbai Indians keep their record clean against Gujarat Giants as they hand them their straight sixth face-to-face defeat.

Batting first, Mumbai Indians posted a competitive score of 179/6 in 20 overs. Despite losing Amelia Kerr (5 off 9) cheaply in the third over, Hayley Matthews (27 off 22) and Natalie Sciver-Brunt steadied the ship ensuring that no more damage was done inside the powerplay. Later, captain Harmanpreet Kaur combined forces with Sciver-Brunt (38 off 31) to stitch a match winning 59-run partnership for the third wicket. In the process, Kaur registered her seventh half-century in WPL, top scoring for her side with 54 off just 33 balls. The Indian captain hammered nine fours in her entertaining knock, which included one reverse sweep from the back of the bat.

Towards the end, Amanjot Kaur (27 off 15), Sajeevan Sajana (11 not out off 6), and Yastika Bhatia (13 off 4) played useful cameos to take their team past 175-run mark. While the first 50 runs were scored in 48 balls, the second and third fifties came relatively in quicker time; 31 balls and 28 balls, respectively.

Of the six bowlers used by Gujarat Giants, four claimed one wicket apiece. They bowled as many as 44 dot balls (7.2 overs of dots), thus restricting the hosts to below 200. The visitors bowled 11 overs of spin across three tweakers in tanuja Kanwer, Priya Mishra, and Ashleigh Gardner, with each of them snapping one scalp each.

In reply, Gujarat Giants did not get off to the best of starts. They lost their first wicket at the start of the fourth over and half their side was back in the dressing room by the end of 11 overs with just 70 runs on board and another 110 to get. Kashvee Gautam (10 off 14) opened the batting for the first time in this season, and that move certainly raised many eyebrows, since it did not pay off. Beth Mooney (7 off 9), Harleen Deol (24 off 17), and Phoebe Litchfield (22 off 16) got starts but failed to capitalise. The biggest disappointment came in the form of captain Ashleigh Gardner, who was sent packing for a duck. While the chips were down for Gujarat Giants, Bharati Fulmali came to the rescue. The right-hander set the match alive with her power-packed knock of 61 from just 25 balls, that saw eight fours and four sixes. She was also involved in a 50-run partnership with local girl Simran Shaikh for the seventh wicket.

By the time Fulmali was dismissed, she brought the game in a touching distance of what could have been an unbelievable win: 38 runs off 18 balls with three wickets in hand. Simran Shaikh (18 off 16) and Tanuja Kanwer (10 off 6) tried hard but could not cross the finishing line.  In the end, Gujarat Giants just fell shy of nine runs.

Mumbai Indians bowled well to defend the target. They bowled a dozen over of spin, with spin twins in Hayley Matthews and Amelia Kerr dazzling with three wickets each. Shabnim Ismail picked two key wickets of Gardner and Litchfield and brought the team back into the game. Mumbai Indians bowled almost 10 overs of dot balls (58 dots) and tightened the screws on Gujarat Giants’ batters.

With this loss, Gujarat Giants have settled to the number three position in the points table and will play the Eliminator against Delhi Capitals or Mumbai Indians on Thursday at the same venue.