Mumbai Indians on Tuesday became the first team to qualify for the Women's Premier League play-offs after thrashing Gujarat Giants by 55 runs at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. Riding on captain Harmanpreet Kaur's half-century, Mumbai Indians posted a challenging total of 162/8 in 20 overs. Harmanpreet hit a brilliant 51 off 30 but her knock was cut short by a brilliant diving catch from Harleen Deol. The dismissal happened on the fourth delivery of the 19th over as Harleen produced one of the moments of the match to remove Harmanpreet.
After making a thumping start to the inaugural WPL against Gujarat Giants with a massive 143-run win at the DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai Indians once again got the better of their opponents with a comprehensive all-round show at the Brabourne Stadium.
Gujarat Giants, who stuttered to a fourth loss in five matches and remained on the penultimate spot in the five-team points table, made 107/9 in 20 overs chasing 163 on a pitch that had something for all parties.
In their previous meeting, Gujarat were bundled out for 64 in 15.1 overs in a chase of 208.
Hayley Matthews made up for her failure with the bat to return with 4-0-24-3 while leg-spinner Amelia Kerr bagged 2/18 to fuel Mumbai's yet another impressive win in front of a partisan crowd.
Also producing an all-round show for Mumbai was Nat Sciver-Brunt, who returned 4-0-21-3 after scoring a vital 36 off 31 balls studded with five fours and a six.
(With PTI Inputs)