Nat Sciver-Brunt, the dynamic 32-year-old England all-rounder, continues to leave an indelible mark on the world of women’s cricket. Her historic acquisition by Mumbai Indians at 3.20 crores in the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction in 2023 made her the joint-costliest overseas player alongside Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner, who was picked up by Gujarat Giants.
Sciver-Brunt has consistently demonstrated her prowess as a game-changer. Ahead of the WPL 2025 Final, she was just 3 runs short of becoming the first player to surpass the 1,000-run mark in the WPL. She achieved the monumental milestone advancing down the pitch and slicing her shot past backward point for a couple of runs off the bowling of Shikha Pandey in the 4th over of the innings to reach the landmark.
Her impressive outing in the ongoing third edition of the WPL has been nothing short of phenomenal, with a tally of 523 runs—a record in itself—in just ten innings, boasting a strike rate of 152.47 and an average of 65.37, including five half-centuries.
Her best performance with the bat for Mumbai Indians came against the two-time runners-up Delhi Capitals, led by skipper Meg Lanning. She smacked the Capitals’ bowlers all over the park en route to her unbeaten half-century, 80* off 59 balls, at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara on 15th March 2025. Her knock included 13 boundaries. Her effort, unfortunately, came in a losing cause as the Capitals got over the line with 2 wickets in hand.
It marks not only her best season with the bat for the Mumbai Indians franchise in the short history of the WPL but also the first time a batter has surpassed the 400-run milestone in a single season. She had a relatively quiet season in the previous edition of the tournament in 2024, accumulating under 200 runs (172 runs) at a strike rate of 119.44 and an average of just 19 in nine innings, signaling a sharp dip in form with the bat for her side.
Her returns in the ongoing season mark a significant improvement from her inaugural season performance as well, where she scored 332 runs with three half-centuries for the Mumbai Indians. She played a pivotal role with her all-round prowess, as the inspirational leadership of skipper Harmanpreet Kaur played its part as they etched their name into the history books as the inaugural champions of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in 2023.
With as many as eight half-centuries in 28 innings so far with the bat, she tops the leaderboard with the most number of half-centuries for the Mumbai Indians. This remarkable consistency also places her as the joint 2nd-most half-centuries alongside RCB’s Ellyse Perry in the history of the Women’s Premier League.
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