BENGALURU: Nat Sciver-Brunt put up an all-round show to propel Mumbai Indians to the top of the WPL table with a comfortable eight-wicket win against UP Warriorz at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday.
After restricting Warriorz to 142/9 with a three-wicket haul, Sciver-Brunt (75*, 43b; 13×4) along with Hayley Matthews (59, 50b, 7×4, 2×6) helped Mumbai chase down the target with three overs to spare.
Sent in to bat, Warriorz got off to a rocky start as opener Kiran Navgire (1) gifted Shabnim Ismail (2/33) a sitter at mid-on as Sciver-Brunt struck in the very first over. Despite the early blow, opener Grace Harris (45, 6×4, 2×6), promoted in the order, took charge hammering Ismail for three consecutive boundaries in the second over.
Vrinda soon joined the party in the next over with a glorious shot over cover off Sciver-Brunt. At the end of the Powerplay, Warriorz were cruising at 62/1. Post the powerplay, Amanjot Kaur (0/3) and Amelia Kerr (1/24) provided MI some respite, conceding just three each in their opening overs.
Just when Warriorz started to find the boundaries again, the 31-year-old Harris was dropped on 44 but she failed to capitalise on her lifeline. Ismail quickly made amends by picking up the Australian at long-on with Kerr handing MI the breakthrough in the 10th over.
From thereon, Warriorz lost their way as Sanskriti Gupta (2/11) removed the well-set Vrinda and Tahlia McGrath (1) in the next over. Warriorz’s famed lower order also failed to make an impact as they added only 58 runs while losing seven wickets in the last 10 overs.
Mumbai got off to a slow start, toiling to 6/0 in three overs, before Deepti Sharma ended Yastika Bhatia’s (0) misery in the fourth over.
Matthews, who had been taken to the cleaners by Harris earlier, and Sciver-Brunt steadied Mumbai’s chase as they got to 33/1 at the end of the Powerplay. With Matthews dropping anchor, Sciver-Brunt found the boundaries to keep the asking run rate under control. While Sciver-Brunt pulled Ecclestone through mid-wicket to bring up her 29-ball half-century, Matthews got to her fifty off 45 deliveries to guide MI home.
Brief Scores: UP Warriorz 142/9 (Grace Harris 45, Vrinda Dinesh 33; Nat SciverBrunt 3-18, Sanskriti Gupta 2-11, Shabnim Ismail 2-33) lost to Mumbai Indians 143/2 in 17 overs (Hayley Matthews 59, Sciver-Brunt 75*)