Mumbai’s twin giants

Mumbai: Nat Sciver-Brunt and Hayley Matthews carried Mumbai Indians to their second WPL final as their power-packed knocks laid the cornerstone for the team’s 47-run win over Gujarat Giants in the Eliminator here on Thursday.

After a rather sedate powerplay, Sciver-Brunt (77 off 41) and Matthews (77 off 50) displayed brute force to fire Mumbai Indians to a daunting 213/4.

MI skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (36 off 12) provided the finishing touches with a crisp cameo.

After an ordinary show on the field and with the ball, GG were on self-destructing mode in the chase with three run-outs being an indicator of that.

Their innings ended at 166 all out in 19.2 overs with Matthews also chipping in with the ball, striking twice.

It was MI’s seventh straight win over the Giants in WPL history.

MI, who won the inaugural edition in 2023, will meet Delhi Capitals in the final on Saturday.

Debutant Daniell Gibson (34 off 24) and Phoebe Litchfield (31 off 20) looked in threatening touch but regular fall of wickets kept pegging the Giants back.

The highlight of Litchfield’s effort was the switch hit of Matthews.

Skipper Ashleigh Gardner, who bailed her team out on multiple occasions, had an off day with the bat.

Indian batter Bharti Fulmali delayed the inevitable with an impressive 30 off 20 balls.

Having finished last in the past two seasons, reaching the knock-out stage was a welcome result for Gujarat Giants.

Earlier Sciver-Brunt, who forms the backbone of MI’s batting, disdainfully smashed pacers and spinners, collecting 10 fours and two sixes in the process.

Realising Mumbai had got only 37 in the powerplay, Matthews and Sciver-Brunt changed gears.