In the 9th match of the ongoing 2024 Women’s Premier League (WPL), the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians locked horns against the other.
The latter won the toss and elected to field as the trend has been so far in the tournament. Mumbai successfully took wickets in the powerplay and reduced the Royals to 42-4 in nearly 9 overs. Pooja Vastrakar’s spell in the middle overs turned out to be crucial for Mumbai Indians, dismissing Richa Ghosh and Sophie Molineux in 3 overs giving only 14 runs. Ellyse Perry played a knock of 44*(38) in her comeback match, guiding the Royals to reach a respectable total of 131/6 and in the process, stitched a 52-run partnership of 40 balls with Georgia Wareham for the 6th wicket.
Highest 6th wicket partnership in WPL
D Sharma, G Harris 69 runs UPW VS RCB 2023
E Perry, G Wareham 52 runs RCB VS MI 2024
S Shaikh, T McGrath 49* runs UPW VS DC 2023
G Harris, S Ecclestone 42 runs UPW VS GG 2023
R Ghosh, K Ahuja 34 runs RCB VS MI 2023
Lowest score by RCB at the end of the innings
125/9 VS MI 2023
131/6 VS MI 2024
138 all-out VS UPW 2023
150/4 VS DC 2023
155 all-out VS MI 2023
3 of 5 against Mumbai Indians
When the Mumbai Indians came for the chase, the openers Yastika Bhatia and Hayley Matthews gave a firing start with a partnership of 45 runs in only 23 balls and scored 60 runs in the powerplay which also turned out to be their highest powerplay score.
Highest powerplay score for Mumbai Indians in WPL
60-1 VS RCB 2024
54-1 VS RCB 2023
53-1 VS RCB 2023
51-0 VS UPW 2023
50-1 VS DC 2024
With the start Mumbai Indians had in the powerplay, it was just a matter of time for the following batters to chase down the total of 132 and they did so with ease, in only 15.1 overs with 29 balls remaining. Their unbeaten record of winning games while chasing extends to 8.
To count out the 8 wins that Mumbai have had while chasing, it has been a key role of the openers to get going and give a good start to the team with five 40-plus opening partnerships between Yastika Bhatia and Hayley Matthews. The batters to follow at no.3 and 4 have made sure to consolidate the aggressive start from the openers in the innings and later on finish the games on multiple occasions.