WPL2024: Mumbai Indians top table after dominant win over Royal Challengers Bangalore

Natalie Sciver-Brunt won the toss and decided to bowl first, standing in place of regular captain Harmanpreet Kaur once more who missed out due to an injury.

The Mumbai captain and Pooja Vastrakar picked up two wickets each with Issy Wong and Saika Ishaque the other bowlers to take one scalp each. The Bangalore batting didn’t fire as well as they would have liked, finishing with 131/5 in 20 overs.

Ellyse Perry was the top scorer with 44 off 38 balls, Sophie Molineux (12 off 14) and Georgia Wareham (27 off 20) also contributing down the order.

Meanwhile, Hayley Matthews and Yastika Bhatia got the chase off to a flier with both Renuka Singh Thakur and Molineux conceding nine and 12 runs off their first overs respectively. Bhatia also ended up hitting the first six of the match, with the Bangalore batters unable to get the ball over the line.

The 45-run opening partnership was ultimately broken when Sophie Devine got Bhatia to edge a wide delivery to Richa Ghosh for 31 off 15 balls.

Although Bangalore were sloppier in the field than Mumbai, Shreyanka Patil put in a good shift, especially when she nearly caught Matthews at the boundary before having to release the ball to not concede the six.

Patil would eventually dismiss the West Indian batter for 26 off 21 balls, when Matthews tried to go over extra cover, but ended up finding Bangalore captain Smriti Mandhana’s safe hands.

The home team however weren’t able to recover from the quick scoring at the start, with the Mumbai captain and Amelia Kerr also looking in fluent touch. Kerr currently holds the Purple Cap (as the leading wicket-taker of the tournament so far with seven wickets from four matches).

The duo put on 49 runs for the third wicket, ultimately losing Sciver-Brunt to an ill-timed reverse sweep off Wareham.