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The Mumbai Indians (MI) began the WPL 2023 season in an incredible fashion with a thumping win over the Gujarat Giants (GG) on Saturday (March 4). Chasing a mammoth total of 208, GG could only muster 64 runs as their batting line-up crumbled under pressure.
A sensational half-century from Harmanpreet Kaur and handy contributions from Hayley Matthews and Amelia Kerr ensured that Mumbai breached the 200-run mark. The target was huge and the Giants needed a solid start but they could barely compete.
Fans on Twitter were thrilled to see the Mumbai Indians dominate their first game of the season. The men's team haven't won a single opening game of the IPL for more than a decade and fans were ecstatic to see that Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. didn't let any first-game nerves affect them.
Here are some of the reactions:
MI struck early with the ball and punctured the chase up front
Big names like Beth Mooney and Ashleigh Gardner were expected to step up in the chase. However, it wasn't to be as the GG captain, unfortunately, seemed to twist her ankle in the very first over while batting.
It went from bad to worse for the Giants as Ashleigh Gardner was dismissed for a golden duck. The result seemed inevitable from that point on as GG just couldn't stand up against the relentless bowling from the opposition. Saika Ishaque was the pick of the bowlers with an incredible four-wicket haul.
Mumbai will take a lot of confidence from this game while GG will need some inspiration to turn their fortunes around in the next game. Mooney's injury also looked serious and that will be playing on their minds.
Gujarat Giants XI: Beth Mooney (c & wk), Sabbhineni Meghana, Harleen Deol, Ashleigh Gardner, Annabel Sutherland, Dayalan Hemalatha, Georgia Wareham, Sneh Rana, Tanuja Kanwar, Mansi Joshi, Monica Patel.
Mumbai Indians XI: Yastika Bhatia (wk), Hayley Matthews, Amelia Kerr, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Natalie Sciver-Brunt, Pooja Vastrakar, Issy Wong, Humaira Kazi, Amanjot Kaur, Jintimani Kalita, Saika Ishaque.
