WPL 2023: Wong, Saika and openers lead Mumbai Indians to 8-wicket win over Delhi Capitals

Mumbai, March 9 (IANS) A superb bowling performances from Issy Wong, Saika Ishaque, followed by impressive outings from openers Yastika Bhatia and Hayley Matthews led Mumbai Indians to a dominating eight-wicket win over Delhi Capitals in the seventh match of the Women's Premier League 2023 at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, here on Thursday.

This was Mumbai's third consecutive victory in the league and they are at the top of the table with six points. On the other hand, Delhi suffered their first loss and are at the second position with four points.

Riding on brilliant bowling from Issy Wong (3/10), Saika Ishaque (3/13) and Hayley Matthews (3/19), Mumbai Indians bowled out Delhi Capitals for 105 in 18 overs. Issy, Saika and Hayley kept picking crucial wickets for Mumbai at regular intervals as only two Delhi batters Meg Lanning (43 off 41) and Jemimah Rodrigues (25 off 18) showed some fight.

Chasing a small target, Yastika and Matthews got the chase off to a flier. Both openers played some breath-taking shots as powerplay yielded 47 runs for Mumbai openers.

Delhi Capitals managed to remove Yastika (41 off 32) and her opening partner Matthews (32 of 31) after powerplay at different stages but it was not enough as next batters Nat Sciver-Brunt (23 not out off 19) and Harmanpreet Kaur (11 off 8) played some adventurous shots to keep the score-board moving.

Nat Sciver and Harmanpreet stitched a quickfire stand of 32 runs for the third wicket as Mumbai Indians chased down the target in 15 overs with eight wickets in hand to continue their unbeaten run in the tournament.

Earlier, Delhi Capitals won the toss and opted to bat first but they got off to a poor start, scoring just 29 overs in the powerplay and lost two wickets.

Right from the start, Mumbai bowlers bowled with discipline, with Saika Ishaque giving them their first breakthrough. Shafali Verma didn't look in good touch and couldn't do much, getting out to Ishaque in the second over of the innings.

Alice Capsey, who was promoted in the batting order then joined captain Lanning at the crease. Known for his aggressive batting, Capsey hit a four very early but couldn't continue his innings longer and got out to Pooja Vastrakar.

Losing two wickets early, the eyes were on seasoned South African batter Marizanne Kapp but she couldn't deliver as Issy Wong cleaned her up, leaving Delhi struggling at 31-3 after 6.4 overs.

Delhi's star batter Jemimah Rodrigues came to bat next and Sciver-Brunt almost removed her too but Hayley Matthews missed the catch at slips. Making full use of the opportunity, Rodrigues slammed three boundaries and along with Lanning built an important stand for the team.

Both Lanning and Rodrigues found boundaries at regular intervals and also rotated strikes well to continue the momentum. But just when it looked like they were turning the game for Delhi, Harmanpreet Kaur introduced Saika for the 13th over and she bagged the important wicket of Jemimah.

Not only Jemimah, Saika also removed DC skipper Lanning in the same over to put an end to her half-century streak. In the very next over, Hayley Matthews also showed her brilliance with the ball and dismissed both Jess Jonassen and Minnu Mani in a span of four deliveries, to put Delhi in deep trouble.

Lower down the order, Radha Yadav (100) helped Delhi cross the three figure mark but Delhi were eventually bowled out for 105.

Brief scores: Delhi Capitals 105-all out in 18 overs (Meg Lanning 43, Jemimah Rodrigues 25; Issy Wong 3/10, Saika Ishaque 3/13 and Hayley Matthews 3/19) lost to Mumbai Indians (Yastika Bhatia 41, Hayley Matthews 32; Tara Norris 1/4 ) by 8 wickets.