Another all-round performance from Nat Sciver-Brunt was the difference between Mumbai Indians (MI) and their opponents, as the Women in Blue came back to winning ways, registering a five-wicket victory over a mediocre Gujarat Giants (GG) in the fifth match of the Women’s Premier League 2025. The England international scored a fearless 57 at a strike rate of 147, following her scalps of Beth Mooney and Ashleigh Gardner in the first innings.
MI is now five-nil up against GG in head-to-head, a stat that the Women in Orange wouldn’t want to pay much heed to in this rivalry between the neighbours. After dismissing GG for a mere 120 in 20 overs, MI were steady in their chase, tackling GG’s spinners with poise before Sciver-Brunt took the bowlers to the cleaners.
Gonalan Kamilini, the youngest-ever player to play in WPL, didn’t shy away from showing her abilities either, scoring a well-placed boundary off the only ball she faced.
Fielding errors, poor batting and a lack of pace battery continued to hinder GG’s performance in this game. On a new pitch with a few visible cracks, MI had put GG to bat first, as dew was expected to play a key role during the second innings.
However, with little to no movement and the ball coming on slow, GG’s batters seemed rushed in their shot selection. And with an attempt to push MI’s bowlers onto the back foot from the outset via their attacking intent, GG’s batters kept holing out with no reverence for the conditions at hand.
On the flip side, taking advantage of GG’s questionable strategy, MI’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur was sharp and astute with her field placements, along with the utilisation of her bowlers, bringing in Hayley Mathews whenever a breakthrough was needed. Mathews took three crucial wickets — Dayalan Hemalatha, Kashvee Gautam and Simran Shaikh — with Sciver-Brunt and Amelia Kerr contributing as well, taking two apiece.
Only Harleen Deol showed some poise at the crease, scoring an almost run-a-ball 32 with four boundaries while trying to build a partnership with GG’s lower middle order. Tanuja Kanwar and Kashvee Gautam did show some intent alongside Deol, but GG’s innings was wrapped up in 20 overs.
Brief scores: GG 120 in 20 ovs (Harleen Deol 32, Kashvee Gautam 20; Hayley Mathews 3-16, Amelia Kerr 2-22, Nat Sciver-Brunt 2-26) lost to MI 122/5 in 16.1 ovs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 57, Kashvee Gautam 2/15).