The experienced 32-year-old English all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt was always going to be a crucial part of the franchise after Mumbai Indians secured her services at a record joint-highest bid of INR 3.2 CR for an overseas signing. She has lived up to her price tag, justifying the management’s call to splurge a chunk of their purse in the inaugural edition.
Sciver-Brunt is currently leading the run-scoring charts for Mumbai Indians with 641 runs at a strike rate of 133.82 and a sensational average of 42.73 in 21 innings. Her tally of runs includes five half-centuries, with her best performance with the bat in the tournament coming in the ongoing 3rd edition when she scored an unbeaten 80* (59 balls) against the Delhi Capitals led by skipper Meg Lanning in the first game of their campaign.
However, it eventually wasn’t enough for her side to get those two points on the board. She was the 2nd highest run-scorer of the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2023, with 332 runs at an impressive strike rate of 140.08 and a mind-boggling average of 66.40 in 10 innings.
Besides her exploits with the bat, she has also picked up 23 wickets at an average of 23.04 and an economy of 7.56 in 21 innings with the ball for her side. Her best performance with the ball for her side in the tournament came on 14th March 2023 against the Gujarat Giants, returning with match figures of 4-0-21-3 in her spell at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.
“Basically, I train to take part in the game for I guess in all parts of the game; batting, bowling, and fielding. That’s how I love to play the game. I like to be involved, yeah just be smart and be ready for the game,” Nat Sciver-Brunt speaks about training to create an all-round impact in the game.
Mumbai Indians led by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, extended their unbeaten run against the Gujarat Giants by five wickets to get their first points on the board in the ongoing 3rd edition of the WPL in the 5th game of the tournament at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara. Courtesy of a top-notch bowling performance from the Mumbai Indians bowling unit, the home side led by skipper Ashleigh Gardner was bundled out for 120 in their quota of 20 overs, after skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to bowl first.
Hayley Matthews (4-0-16-3), Shabnim Ismail (4-1-17-1), and Amelia Kerr (4-0-22-2) were impressive with the ball for their side, while Nat Sciver-Brunt picked up the two big scalps of wicket-keeper batter Beth Mooney and skipper Ashleigh Gardner to keep the Giants in check in terms of the scoring. Sciver-Brunt also turned things around with the bat, scoring her 2nd consecutive half-century (57 off 39 balls), this time around, coming in a winning cause for her side.
“I just enjoy batting really, yeah pretty happy, happy with those, obviously I wanted to continue to look for boundaries throughout the middle period treating the chase like a bigger total so that you don’t leave it too close to the end. Today the bowlers did such a great job that it didn’t feel like such a big pressure,” Nat Sciver-Brunt said about enjoying her batting and trying to find the gaps consistently, on her game-defining time in the middle.
The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side will be up against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) led by skipper Smriti Mandhana in the 7th game of the tournament on 21st February 2025 (Friday) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru.
(Quotes sourced from video posted by WPLT20 on Instagram)
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