Ice-cool Sciver-Brunt helps Mumbai Indians win WPL

Mumbai Women’s Premier League Final

Mumbai Indians 149-7 (20 overs): Harmanpreet 66 (44), Kapp 2-11

Delhi Capitals 141-9 (20 overs): Kapp 40 (26), Sciver-Brunt 3-30

Mumbai Indians won by eight wickets.

Mumbai Indians won the Women’s Premier League for the second time with an eight-run victory over Delhi Capitals in the final, beating Nat Sciver-Brunt 3-30 and holding her nerve at the bat.

After being asked to bat first, MI started slowly by taking 2-11 from a mediocre opening spell before Harmanpreet Kaur’s 66 off 44 balls helped them get going.

In a third-wicket partnership for 89 runs with England all-rounder Sciver-Brunt, the MI skipper combined for nine fours and two sixes.

After Sciver-Brunt beat Shree Charani to a 28-ball 30 from midwicket, MI’s innings came to a standstill, and Harmanpreet followed shortly after, caught off Annabel Sutherland in the deep off Annabel Sutherland.

As the Capitals posted a competitive score of 149-7, Jess Jonassen and Charani posted two wickets each for the team under the guidance of former England captain Charlotte Edwards.

Meg Lanning, a Sciver-Brunt in-ducker, was the Delhi captain who was 13 before fellow opener Shafali Verma was lbw to Shabnim Ismail.

Jemimah Rodrigues, who had previously defeated Delhi’s WPL opponents, turned in a gutsy 30 from 17-2, led the fightback for the champion from 17-2.

The Capitals’ fate appeared to be sealed when she took Amelia Kerr’s second wicket in the 11th over, which read 66-5.

However, South Africa all-rounder Kapp, who had a defiant 40 off 26 balls, chipped Sciver-Brunt into the hands of long-off, made sure the match went deeper than expected.

The Capitals only allowed five singles as a result of the game’s final over, but Sciver-Brunt was ice cool with the ball in hand.

Capitals skipper Lanning chose to bowl at Brabourne Stadium when the coin dropped in her favor after winning the toss and starting the game in the 2023 and 2024 WPL finals, both of which they lost.

The Capitals’ early pressure was evident when the Caps’ talented opener, Kapp, gave them the upper hand with a superb opening performance.

With a clever set-up, Kapp bowled three away-swingers before a wobble-seam delivery slammed in, winning the crucial wicket of Hayley Matthews.

Mumbai’s powerplay score of 20-2 was the second-lowest of the tournament and required a fifth over for a boundary.

However, Sciver-Brunt and Harmanpreet diligently rebuilt the innings for MI in a repeat of the 2023 final, giving the attack a platform to launch from.

Sciver-Brunt had a dominant hand that time, but experienced India skipper Harmapreet was the main protagonist.

Harmapreet whipped Sutherland for six through midwicket before extravagantly scoring three straight fours off Jonassen, demonstrating the more aggression.

With a 523 run-scorer in 10 innings at 65.37, Sciver-Brunt was able to claim the orange cap, making it the first time in WPL history to score 1,000 runs.

The Capitals’ total appeared manageable, but they frequently lost wickets because MI’s determined bowling helped them maintain their intensity.

With a slightly better average overall, Kiwi leg-spinner Kerr finished with Matthews and Rodrigues as the WPL’s joint top wicket-taker with the 18 victims.

However, England vice-captain Sciver-Brunt displayed steely nerves during the business end of the match, defeating Kapp and outperforming Niki Prasad in the final over.

“I’ll ride the highs as long as I can because I’m certain there will also be lows,” a statement that is considered cricket, isn’t it? You can always have a great ball on any given day, so I’m happy to ride those highs as much as I can.

“We have a lot of all-rounders and world-class players who can stand up anytime,” he said. Being a part of a franchise that has grown into a family is so special.

Harmanpreet Kaur, MI’s captain and overall winner, commented: “It was a great team effort. The Delhi team deserves my best wishes; it was difficult for us.

You’re really, really happy with the way we played, at the end of the day. We fought until the final ball. Being present and carrying out the right actions repeatedly is what it means.

Meg Lanning, the skipper of the Capitals, said, “We are bitterly disappointed. Another successful season has passed, but we were unable to move past it.

“We were unable to put our best performances on the board in the final, which is disappointing, but cricket is what it is.” We did everything we could to prepare for. Each time, it has changed.