WPL 2024/25, MI-W vs RCB-W 7th Match Match Report, February 21, 2025

Mumbai Indians 170 for 6 (Harmanpreet 50, Sciver-Brunt 42, Wareham 3-21) beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru 167 for 7 (Perry 81, Ghosh 28, Amanjot 3-22) by four wickets

Win the toss, field first, win the match. This has been the story of all seven games in WPL 2025 so far. Mumbai Indians (MI) were the latest benefactors of winning the toss as they beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by four wickets in the first game of the Bengaluru leg.

Bowling first, MI restricted RCB to 167 for 7 despite a pristine 81 off 43 balls by Ellyse Perry. Then they had the joint-best powerplay of the season, cruising to 66 for 2. Harmanpreet Kaur‘s half-century kept MI in a comfortable position until Georgia Wareham dismissed her and S Sajana off successive balls in the 18th over. Amanjot Kaur took over from there and, with 22 needed from 12 balls, hit Kanika Ahuja for two sixes. That brought it down to run-a-ball in the final over. Still, it came down to two needed from two balls before G Kamalini smashed Ekta Bisht through covers to seal the game.

Mandhana vs Ismail – a short story

Shabnim Ismail is the fastest bowler in women’s cricket and it showed immediately. Opening the bowling for MI, Ismail hurried Smriti Mandhana with a bouncer, the RCB captain’s mistimed pull falling short of mid-on. However, Mandhana took just one delivery to adjust to the pace and the bounce of the pitch. Two balls later, when Ismail hurled another short ball, Mandhana quickly got into the position and pulled it over square leg for four.

It made Ismail switch to around the wicket. For the last ball of the over, she went short again, this time trying to cramp the batter. Mandhana unfurled another four with a pull.

Nat Sciver-Brunt, who opened the bowling from the other end, does not have Ismail’s pace. That allowed Mandhana to use her feet and launch a straight six.

In her next over, Ismail erred in her line, and Mandhana duly cut her to the point boundary twice in three balls. But Ismail had the last laugh. She went short again, angling the ball on this occasion. Mandhana must have been feeling invincible by then. She attempted another pull. But this one took the top edge and Yastika Bhatia settled under it behind the stumps.

Quick wickets leave RCB in trouble

Perry opened her account with a first-ball four, flicking a full delivery from Ismail over square leg. In the next over, she freed her arms and hit Sciver-Brunt over long-on. But MI pulled things back with three quick wickets. Danni Wyatt-Hodge miscued an upper cut against Sciver-Brunt to short third; Raghvi Bist hit Hayley Matthews into the hands of deep midwicket; and Kanika Ahuja chopped Sanskriti Gupta onto her stumps. After nine overs, RCB were 62 for 4.

Perry pristine

RCB did not hit a single boundary from overs six to nine. Perry ended the drought in the tenth when she dispatched Matthews for four. She found support from Richa Ghosh, who smashed a six in the same over. The pair combined to pocket five more fours in the next three overs. By the time Amanjot bowled Ghosh for 28 off 25, the partnership had reached 50 in 38 deliveries.

From there on, Perry carried RCB almost singlehandedly. She hit Amelia Kerr inside out over extra cover to bring her fifty off 30 balls. Two balls later, she jumped out of her crease to deposit Kerr over long-on. In the next over, Matthews paid the price for bowling too short as Perry picked up two more fours. Perry eventually fell to Amanjot on the penultimate ball of the innings but not before hitting the bowler for back-to-back fours.

Full report to follow

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