Two blockbuster teams - Royal Challengers Bangalore (BAN-W) and Mumbai Indians (MUM-W) - come face-to-face in Match 9 of the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2024. Both teams started their campaign by winning two matches in a row but lost their previous encounter.
It was Mumbai who won the toss and they decided to follow the trend by opting to field first at Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium. Their regular skipper Harmanpreet Kaur continued to miss back-to-back matches and Nat Sciver-Brunt took over in her absence. Meanwhile, for the hosts, their star all-rounder Ellyse Perry was back in the line-up after missing the previous match due to injury.
A complete domination from the defending champions saw them win by a huge margin of seven wickets. The MI bowlers managed to restrict RCB to a below-par total and their batters complemented with a great effort to chase down the target with almost five overs to spare. While Mumbai topped the points table, Bangalore slipped to fifth place after two consecutive defeats.
Here are the key moments from the BAN-W vs MUM-W match
- RCB lose 3 wickets in the powerplay
- RCB reduced to 71-5 in 12.1 overs
- Ellyse Perry shifts gears at the right time
- MI pulled back in the final overs to restrict RCB to 131/6
- MI openers got off to a flying start
- Shreyanka Patil strikes but Amelia Kerr comes out all guns blazing
#1. RCB lose 3 wickets in the powerplay
After being inserted into bat first, RCB suffered an early setback as they lost in-form skipper Smriti Mandhana in the third over. England pacer Issy Wong drew first blood. Sabbhineni Meghana and Sophie Devine were also removed inside the powerplay and RCB were pushed on the back foot early on.
T̶h̶e̶ ̶r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶s̶t̶a̶r̶t̶. The 𝐖ong start! 💥#OneFamily #AaliRe #MumbaiIndians #TATAWPL #RCBvMI pic.twitter.com/4TFZTx9IxG
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) March 2, 2024
#2. RCB reduced to 71-5 in 12.1 overs
RCB in massive trouble at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. pic.twitter.com/5p21U5R8j0
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 2, 2024
The MI bowlers kept the pressure on in the middle overs and kept picking up wickets. Ellyse Perry hung on at one end as Richa Ghosh and Sophie Molineux struggled to find resistance. Ghosh and Moluneux were dismissed in the 9th and 13th over, respectively, and RCB went into deep trouble with the scoreboard reading 71-5.
#3. Ellyse Perry shifts gears at the right time
The Australian all-rounder was cautious at the start as wickets kept falling at the other end. But she shifted gears at the right time in a bid to pull her team out of trouble. Perry and Georgia Wareham together stitched a 52-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
#4. MI pulled back in the final overs to restrict RCB to 131/6
Inspite of a rocky start, Perry pulls us through to a fighting total. 😮💨
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) March 2, 2024
Hoping for some magic from our bowlers 🤞#PlayBold #SheIsBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #WPL2024 #RCBvMI pic.twitter.com/Cy811nZC8y
The stage was set for RCB to capitalize on the death overs, but MI bowlers were on the money. RCB could only make 25 runs in the last four overs as they were restricted to 131 for the loss of six wickets.
#5. MI openers got off to a flying start
Chasing a modest target, MI openers Yastika Bhatia and Hayley Matthews got their team off to a strong start. The first three overs went for 37 runs, with the third over bowled by Renuka Singh accounting for 16 runs. Sophie Devine managed to break the partnership with the wicket of Bhatia (31 off 15) in the final ball of the fourth over.
We're going to be thinking about this powerplay for a 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘨 time 🫡#OneFamily #AaliRe #MumbaiIndians #TATAWPL #RCBvMI
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) March 2, 2024
pic.twitter.com/kekKLsbwue
#6. Shreyanka Patil strikes but Amelia Kerr comes out all guns blazing
Right-arm spinner Shreyanka Patil got rid of dangerous Matthews (26 off 21) in the 8th over, but that brought Amelia Kerr, who took the game away from RCB, to the crease. The New Zealand cricketer showed no mercy to the RCB bowlers and scored 40 off 24 balls, a knock that included 7 boundaries. Kerr sealed MI's win with a boundary off the very first ball of the 15th over.
Final Analysis
Everything went Mumbai Indians' way tonight. They won the toss, the bowlers restricted RCB to a mere total, and then their batters put up a dominating show with the bat. RCB are yet to register a win against MI in the WPL as the defending champions made it 3-3 tonight.