The inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) got off to a sensational start as Mumbai Indians (MI) defeat Gujarat Giants (GG) by a 143-run in the opening game at Dr. DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on 4th March 2023.
After being put in to bat, Mumbai Indians’ batters Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt, captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Amelia Kerr all came to the party as the home team post a huge total of 207 runs on the board.
The score prove to be too much for the Gujarat Giants as they bundle for 64 after their skipper Beth Mooney retire hurt in the first over itself.
And if you remember one batter doing the bulk of the scoring, the opposition being shot out for a double-digit score.
Yes, 15 years ago, when the Indian Premier League began, Kolkata Knight Riders did the same to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) when Brendon McCullum went berserk scoring an unbeaten 158 off just 73 balls.
In that game too, the opposition was shot out for a 82 after KKR post a massive 222 on board.
Similarities between opening games of the IPL and the WPL
- The team winning the toss (RCB in IPL, GG in WPL) elects to bowl first but the team batting first (KKR in IPL, GG in WPL) wins the game.
- The team losing the toss is sent in to bat first and posts a total of 200-plus (222 by KKR in IPL, 207 by MI in WPL.)
- The win margin over 140 runs (KKR beat RCB by 140 runs, MI beat GG by 143 runs.)
- The highest individual score of the team batting first was more than the score of the team batting second (McCullum’s 158* was 76 more than RCB’s 82, while Harmanpreet’s 65 was just one run more than GG’s 64.)
- The strike rate of the top-scorer of the team batting first (McCullum’s was 216.43 while Harmanpreet struck at 216.67.)
- The innings of the team batting second finish in exactly 15.1 overs (RCB 82 all-out, GG 64.)
After Beth Mooney got injure in the first over itself, the Gujarat Giants lost the wicket of Harleen Deol in the very same over and they couldn’t recover from that.
Nat Sciver-Brunt and Issy Wong dismiss the top order before the Bengal spinner wreaked havoc with a four-wicket haul as apart from Dayalan Hemalatha, no other Gujarat Giants batter could score much.
