‘Aali re aali Mumbai chi mulgi aali re’- Fans can’t keep calm as Mumbai hammers Delhi to become Champions of inaugural Women’s T20 League

Harmanpreet Kaur-led Mumbai beat Delhi by 7 wickets to win the inaugural season of the Women’s T20 League on Sunday at Brabourne Stadium. All-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt, along with skipper, Harmanpreet Kaur helped Mumbai to win the game and become champions. While chasing 132 runs, Sciver-Brunt scored unbeaten 60 runs off 55 balls and led the team to glory.

Earlier, after winning the toss, Delhi skipper Meg Lanning decided to bat first. Delhi didn’t start well in the final summit as they lost three crucial wickets in the powerplay itself. Opener Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Alice Capsey were dismissed by Issy Wong in two consecutive overs.

These dismissals pushed Delhi far behind in the game although captain Lanning tried to rescue her team but eventually got ran out dramatically. Lanning scored 35 runs off 29 balls before getting dismissed because of a lack of communication between her and Jess Jonassen.

Meanwhile, Mumbai’s bowlers outplayed Lanning and co. who didn’t have any answers to Mumbai’s slow deliveries. Wong got three wickets off full tosses, while all-rounder Healy Matthews also clinched three crucial wickets. The pair was well supported by Melie Kerr, who clinched two wickets.

Radha Yadav and Shikha Pandey led Delhi to a respectable total

These bowling performances restricted Delhi to 79 for 9 and they were looking far behind in the game. However, there came a dramatic rescue as the last batting pair of Shikha Pandey and Radha Yadav added 52 runs for the 10th wicket.

In her innings, Radha scored 27 runs off 12 deliveries while Shikha scored the same in 17 balls. Both toyed with Mumbai’s bowling lineup and helped their team post a competitive total. They took Delhi from 79/9 to 131/9 in 20 overs making the game alive.

Chasing 132 was never an easy task for Mumbai due to the pressure of finals. The team failed to hold their nerves and lost two early wickets as openers Matthews and Yastika Bhatiya were dismissed in no time. To rescue her team, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, along with Nat Sciver-Brunt, added 72 runs for the third wicket and led the team to victory.

The cameo from Melie Kerr was toppings on the cake as she finished the run chase brilliantly. Meanwhile, fans react to Mumbai’s glorious journey in the season and call them a goat franchise. A Twitter user said, “Mumbai is Australia of Women’s T20 League.”

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