Harmanpreet Kaur turns the clock back with an epic 95*, Mumbai Indians qualify for WPL 2024 playoffs
On Saturday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Harmanpreet Kaur turned the clock back to 2017. In what is arguably the best knock of the Women’s Premier League so far, the India captain produced a chasing masterclass to help Mumbai Indians become the first team to qualify for the playoffs.
The comparisons to her incredible 171* in the 2017 World Cup semifinal were unavoidable. A sedate start. A steady shifting of the gears. An explosive finish. Beth Mooney, the Gujarat Giants captain, would have had a sense of deja vu. She – along with Ash Gardner – witnessed an all-time great World Cup knockout innings in Australia’s colours that day in Derby. In orange this time, they were once again at the receiving end as MI chased down 191 with a ball to spare.
On that day in 2017, she scored her 100 off 90 balls and the smashed her last 71 runs off 25 deliveries. In this chase, she was on 20 off 21 balls at the end of the 14th over, Mumbai’s score – incidentally – read 100. And that’s when the foot firmly went on the pedal.
With MI needing 91 off 36 balls, Harmanpreet went after Meghna Singh in the 15th over. A six and two fours shifted the momentum. In the 16th over, a slice of luck. Phoebe Litchfield was taking absolute stunners in Australia’s colours during their visit to India a couple of months back. Here, she dropped a sitter at long on. The ball trickled to the fence for four.
In the 18th over, Harmanpreet dismantled Sneh Rana with effortless aggression. 4, 0, 6, 4, 4, 6. It was the over that truly ignited the night – while also setting off the sprinkler in the outfield that caused the delay.
As it turned out, for Giants, it was only delaying the inevitable. A six each in the 19th and 20th overs, and soon Harmanpreet Kaur leapt in joy. A day after turning 35, Harmanpreet provided a throwback to the day Indian cricket changed forever. In many ways, the 171* paved the way for the WPL to eventually become a reality. And on that very stage, she provided a nice reminder that she’s still got it.
Brief scores for Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Giants:
Gujarat Giants 190/7 in 20 overs (Beth Mooney 66, Dayalan Hemalatha 74; Saika Ishaque 2/31) lost to Mumbai Indians 191/3 in 19.5 overs (Yastika Bhatia 49, Harmanpreet Kaur 95*; Tanuja Kanwar 1/21) by 7 wickets.
