Mumbai Indians' S Sajana (left) and Amanjot Kaur celebrate after winning the opening WPL match against Delhi Capitals at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: The last time Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals met, it was the former who scored a 7-wicket victory with three balls remaining to emerge champions of the first edition of the Women's Premier League.
The opener between the two teams here at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in the second season once again turned out to be a closely-fought affair as Mumbai chased down a competitive target to score 4-wicket win on the last ball.
Asked to bat first, DC's batters struggled in the beginning but managed to stitch together a decent total of 171 for 5 in 20 overs with England's Alice Capsey being the wrecker-in-chief.
But the defending champions, powered by Yastika Bhatia and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, looked comfortable before a few fall of wickets tightened the noose around MI's neck.
Yastika's 57 off 45 balls and Harmanpreet's 55 in 34 balls had shots hit all over the ground.
Both their wickets at crucial junctions slowed the pace of play. With 5 runs needed off the last ball new batter S Sajana smashed a six to give MI a winning start.
Earlier, DC's innings began on a slow note. With only three runs coming in the first two overs and power hitter Shafali Verma throwing away her wicket early, the snail-paced start from DC needed a saviour.
Alice, coming in at one down, took the challenge head-on. The 19-year-old smashed nine boundaries and three sixes - one into the stands that was 85mts long.
Her partnership of 64 runs in 51 balls with opener and skipper Meg Lanning (31 runs of 25 balls) sturdied DC's initial wobble.
Soon after Lanning fell to bowler Nat Sciver-Brunt, Jemimah Rodrigues got into the act of adding 42 runs in 24 balls.
The trio's contributions with the bat helped put DC in a competitive position to come out and defend.
Pacer Shabnim Ismail, MI's costliest buy at the auctions, lived up to her tag. The 35-year-old South African gave her team the first break and remained the most disciplined throughout her spell of figures of 4-0-24-1.
Brief scores: Delhi Capitals: 171/5 in 20 overs (Meg Lanning 31, Alice Capsey 75, Jemimah Rodrigues 42; Nat Sciver-Brunt 2-33, Amelia Kerr 2-43) lt to Mumbai Indians: 173/6 in 20 overs (Yastika Bhatia 57, Harmanpreet Kaur 55; Arundhati Reddy 2-27, Alice Capsey 2-23). Result: MI won by 4 wickets. PoM: Alice Capsey.