The 2023 Women’s Premier League got off to a cracking start on Saturday, March 4 at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The Mumbai Indians pulled off a great batting performance against Gujarat Giants in the season opener of the tournament. They managed to score 207 runs, batting first in the match.
Yashtika Bhatia opened the innings with Hayley Matthews. Mumbai Indians suffered an early blow, as Bhatia was dismissed for four runs. But Hayley Matthews’ stood out with her powerful knock. She slammed 47 runs off 31 deliveries, with three boundaries and four sixes. Harmanpreet Kaur and Amelia Kerr took the innings forward. Harmanpreet scored 65 runs, while Kerr was unbeaten on 45. Pooja Vastrakar also played a fine cameo of 15 runs off eight deliveries.
𝐊𝐲𝐚 𝐊𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐚𝐚𝐫 𝐊𝐚𝐮𝐫 & 𝐊𝐞𝐫𝐫 🫶💙#OneFamily #MumbaIndians #WPL2023 #GGvMI pic.twitter.com/X8bxHBiAF4
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) March 4, 2023
Meanwhile, Sneh Rana was the pick of the bowlers for the Gujarat Giants. She took two wickets, conceding 43 runs off her four overs. Ashleigh Gardner, Tanuja Kanwar, and Georgia Wareham took a wicket each in the innings. The fans were elated with Mumbai Indians’ batting performance in the match.
Let’s take a look at how fan’s reacted to Mumbai Indians scoring 207 runs in the opening game against Gujarat Giants:
One more league where Mumbai Indians is killing it 👏🏻 #TATAWPL
— Shridhar V (@iimcomic) March 4, 2023
Mumbai Indians scored the first 200 in WPL.
A dream start for the league.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 4, 2023
Well played Hayley Mathews my Carribean queen. Mumbai Indians is incomplete without Carribean flavour. pic.twitter.com/z6B9jaxgWo
— R A T N I S H (@LoyalSachinFan) March 4, 2023
https://twitter.com/Ayush2eats/status/1632053685755969536?s=20
200+ in the first innings of both IPL and WPL 🎯
— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) March 4, 2023
200 is here!
THE WPL IS OFF TO A STUNNING START. #WPL
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) March 4, 2023
Incredible batting from our girls, scoring 200+ in the first match in WPL history is unbelievable. we are so close to our first win @mipaltan. pic.twitter.com/s3teK8BjiC
— Vishal. (@SPORTYVISHAL) March 4, 2023
Harmanpreet Kaur has given WPL the start it needed.
The Indian captain fittingly laid the foundation of how crucial the tournament could be for the Indian players going forward.
65(30)
200+ strike rate 🥶Aussie bowlers getting hammered.
Just wow. 🙌Absolute Kaurnage 🙌
— Anuj Nitin Prabhu (@APTalksCricket) March 4, 2023
Very first game in the history of @wplt20 sees a 200+ score being set. Exactly what had happened in the first @IPL 15 years ago.
In case you thought women's cricket was "boring" or "backward", find better excuses! 🙄🏏 #WPL
— Sohini M. (@Mittermaniac) March 4, 2023
200 in wpl that too in the first game
Who would have thought 👏🏻☑️☑️❤️❤️— SURBHI SHARMA (@Imsurbhis) March 4, 2023
Was one of those days when everything came out well: Hayley Matthews
Mumbai Indians cricketer Hayley Matthews provided a great start to the Mumbai Indians. The solid foundation helped the team to get a huge score at the DY Patil Stadium. Talking to the broadcasters at the mid-innings break, Hayley Matthews expressed that the team is happy with the score as they wanted to get to 160-180. She said, as quoted by Cricbuzz
“It was a really good wicket, the ball is coming on well and you can play some good cricket shots. It was one of those days when everything came out well. We wanted to get above 160-180, so happy with the score.”
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