Mumbai Indians win inaugural Women's Premier League

Nat Sciver-Brunt was the calm head in the closing stages as the England allrounder finished unbeaten on 60 to drag Mumbai Indians over the line against Delhi Capitals

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Mumbai: Delhi Capitals 131-9, Mumbai Indians 134-3 - Mumbai Indians win by seven wickets

Mumbai Indians were crowned as the inaugural Women's Premier League champions, beating Delhi Capitals in the final thanks to a ruthless bowling display and the composure of Nat Sciver-Brunt with the bat.

The two sides traded dominant wins for the team batting second in the group stage, and that pattern repeated itself when it mattered most. Delhi won the toss and collapsed with the bat, before rallying in the field but ultimately fell short.

Sciver-Brunt, in many opinions the best allrounder in the world, was nerveless in making 60 not out after Mumbai had been reduced to 23 for 2 in a chase of 132. She shared 72 in 12.3 overs with MI captain Harmanpreet Kaur to stabilise their innings and then dragged her team over the line once Kaur was run out attempting a sharp single.

Earlier, Issy Wong had starred – fortuitously at times – as she picked up the powerplay wickets of Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey and Jemimah Rodrigues with three full tosses, reducing Capitals to 35 for 3 in the fifth over. However her wickets came, she has enjoyed a magnificent tournament, beginning it by hitting her first ball for six and then picking up a hat-trick in the eliminator, while also finishing as the second-highest wicket-taker.

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Issy Wong starred for Mumbai Indians and ended the tournament as its second-highest wicket-taker (Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)

Verma might have been unfortunate – her delivery seemed to be very close to being above waist-height – but otherwise Delhi struggled to assert themselves as so often.

Capsey, a two-time Hundred winner with Jonathan Batty as her Oval Invincibles coach, was surprised by a full-toss that swung away late and took her leading edge, before Rodrigues – after caressing two boundaries through cover – sliced a low full toss to point.

They never truly recovered from Verma's demise though; she had begun by launching Wong over long-on for six but after her departure, Capitals' composure seemed to disappear at the same time.

Meg Lanning and Marizanne Kapp attempted a rebuild, but Kapp edged behind for 18 off 21 balls before Lanning, an over later, was needlessly run out by a poor call from Jess Jonassen, who set off after cutting to cover and gave her captain no chance.

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Delhi Capitals weren't at their best in the final (Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)

Within 5.3 overs, 73 for 3 became 79 for 9 as Arundhati Reddy swept to short fine leg and Jonassen cue-ended a sweep back to the excellent Hayley Matthews, who then had Minu Manni stumped and bowled Taniya Bhatia on her way to figures of 3 for 5 from four overs as Delhi imploded.

An unbroken last stand between Shikha Pandey and Radha Yadav added 52 vital runs four overs, and that partnership looked like being particularly pivotal when Yastika Bhatia spooned Radha to deep midwicket and Matthews – a player-of-the-tournament contender – clipped Jonassen to mid-on.

But Sciver-Brunt was never out of control, sweeping and pulling assertively, initially playing second fiddle to Kaur but then taking over as the winning line came into sight. With two needed to win, she lapped Capsey over short fine leg and ran away with her arms aloft as Mumbai made history.


Related Topics

WPL | Women's Cricket | News | Mumbai Indians | Global Game | Delhi Capitals |
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