NEW DELHI: Mumbai Indians registered another thumping victory on Monday to establish themselves as clear favourites in the early stages of the inaugural Women's Premier League. Mumbai consolidated their top spot in the standings with two big wins in two games in the tournament.
Harmanpreet Kaur-led side produced a dominant performance at Brabourne stadium to thrash Royal Challengers Bangalore by nine wickets.
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Smriti Mandhana opted to bat first, but RCB failed to bat out their quota of 20 overs and were bowled out for 155 in 18.4 overs. MI then chased down the below-par target in just 14.2 overs with nine wickets in hand.
West Indian all-rounder Hayley Matthews shone with both bat and ball, leading the run chase with an unbeaten 77 off 38 balls after returning figures of 3 for 28 earlier with the ball. Matthews took MI home comfortably with Nat Sciver-Brunt, 55 not out off 29, as her partner. The duo added unbeaten 114 runs for the second wicket in just 9.2 overs.
Matthews and Yastika Bhatia (23 off 19) added a quick 45 runs, inside five overs, for the opening wicket to give MI a perfect start in their chase. And they did not look back after that and inflicted RCB their second defeat in two games.
MI, who won the first game by 143 runs against Gujarat Giants, now have four points from two matches with a net run rate (NRR) of 5.185.
Matthews yet again forged a defining partnership with England's Sciver-Brunt, with the two right-handed batters hammering the RCB bowlers all over the park to put on an unbeaten 114-run stand for the second wicket.
1/10:WPL: Hayley Matthews stars in Mumbai Indians win over RCB
PTI
2/10:MI beat RCB
<p>Mumbai Indians registered a convincing nine-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore, their second on the trot in the Women's Premier League, at the Brabourne Stadium on Monday. </p>ANI
3/10:MI bowlers
<p>It started with their bowlers, who didn't sway away from their plans and kept the RCB batters on a tight leash every time. </p>PTI
4/10:MI batters
<p>The MI batters then followed the same template, attacking the fragile RCB bowling to canter to victory in 14.2 overs. </p>PTI
5/10:Hayley Matthews
<p>Leading MI in both departments was West Indies allrounder Hayley Matthews. </p>IANS
6/10:Smriti Mandhana
<p>Hayley's 3/28 included back-to-back scalps of RCB skipper Smriti Mandhana (23; 17b; 5x4) and Heather Knight (0) in her second over. </p>PTI
7/10:Chase master
<p>Hayley then bossed the lackadaisical RCB bowling with her whirlwind unbeaten knock of 77 from 38 balls, which was laced with 13 fours and one six.</p>PTI
8/10:The platform
<p>Hayley first shared a 45-run partnership for the opening wicket with Yastika Bhatia (23, 19b; 4x4) which set the platform for MI. </p>PTI
9/10:MI over the line with ease
<p>Hayley then churned out an unbeaten 114-run stand for the second wicket with Nat Sciver-Brunt (55*, 29b; 9x4, 1x6) which took MI over the line with ease. </p>PTI
10/10:2nd win on the trot
<p>The victory strengthened MI's resolve and gives them confidence in the matches that will follow. </p>PTIIf Matthews produced an all-round show to help Mumbai Indians to their second win, the uncapped Saika Ishaque also impressed once again, grabbing two wickets and taking her tally in the tournament to six.
Nat Sciver-Brunt, who couldn't get a good start in the opening game, made up for the disappointment on Monday by cracking an unbeaten 55 off 29 balls, studded with 10 fours and a six.
'Player of the Match' Matthews seemed to have picked up from where she had left off at the DY Patil Stadium the other night, playing her strokes with power, precision and command.
Matthews hammered 13 boundaries and a six in her 38-ball unbeaten 77, which came after she had returned superb bowling figures of 4-0-28-3.
She accounted for RCB skipper Smriti Mandhana, Heather Knight and Richa Ghosh.
Matthews might have taken her fourth wicket in her final over but Renuka Thakur thwacked the ball real hard for the bowler to take the return catch.
The only breakthrough for RCB came in the fifth over when Preeti Bose trapped Yastika Bhatia in front of the wickets for a well-made 23 off 19 balls.
The Mumbai wicketkeeper-batter, who looked out of sorts in the first match, broke the shackles with an unconventional shot that got her the first four of the innings, and she did well to help forge a 45-run first-wicket stand.
Sciver-Brunt took a liking for Shreyanka Patil in the eighth over, clobbering three boundaries to put Mumbai Indians in almost a run-a-ball situation from thereon. Sciver-Brunt and Matthews took on Patil once again, this time in the 13th over, with three fours and a six getting them 20 runs.
Earlier, RCB fought back with useful contributions from their lower order as they recovered from a batting collapse to reach 155 in 18.4 overs.
After a bright start provided by captain Smriti Mandhana (23 off 17 balls, 5 fours), RCB lost four wickets in eight balls to slip from 39/0 to 43/4 between the fourth and the fifth over.
The damage was caused by Saika Ishaque and Hayley Matthews, who along with New Zealand's Amelia Kerr shared seven wickets between them.
But credit to RCB batters -- Richa Ghosh (28), Kanika Ahuja (22), debutant Shreyanka Patil (23) and Megan Schutt (20) -- who not only got some much-needed runs but also took the team's total beyond 150, which looked difficult at one stage.
(With inputs from PTI)
