Debutant Sajeevan Sajana made headlines with a dream last-ball six finish as defending champions Mumbai Indians beat Delhi Capitals by four wickets in a thriller in the TATA WPL 2024 Opener at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur (55) and Yastika Bhatia (57) hit crucial fifties to help Mumbai Indians’ charge before Sanjana finished it off in style to spark celebrations in the Mumbai camp.
Chasing 172, Mumbai Indians were jolted early as Marizanne Kapp had Hayley Matthews caught behind off just the second ball of the innings. Yastika Bhatia and Nat Sciver-Brunt then got together and counter-attacked to take MI to 50/1 at the end of the Powerplay.
Lanning then introduced Arundhati Reddy into the attack in the seventh over, and the move worked as she got the huge wicket of Sciver-Brunt, cleaning her up with a sensational inswinger. MI pulled things back a bit as they gave away 30 runs off the next four overs to reach 80/2 at the halfway stage.
Bhatia and captain Harmanpreet Kaur then upped the scoring as the former brought up her maiden WPL fifty off just 35 balls. With the partnership getting stronger, Lanning brought back Reddy and she again responded with a crucial wicket, having Bhatia caught in the deep for 57(45).
Kaur, however, kept the momentum going, along with Amelia Kerr. With 30 required off 18, Shikha Pandey bowled an excellent over to give away just eight runs and pick up the wicket of Kerr (24 off 18). Kaur, though, kept MI on course, bringing up his half-century in style with a six in the penultimate over. With 12 needed off the last over, Capsey dismissed Pooja Vastrakar off the first ball of the final over. After three runs off the next two balls, Kaur cracked a four over point to bring the equation down to five off two. Capsey, though, bounced back to have the MI captain caught at long on to provide another twist. With five needed off the last ball, Sajeevan Sajana charged down the track and smashed one over long-on for a six to win it for MI.
Earlier, Mumbai Indians captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to field. They got off to a good start, restricting Delhi Capitals to 25/1 in the Powerplay. Shabnim Ismail and Saika Ishaque started off well conceding just three runs from the first two overs. The pressure built, and Ismail reaped the rewards in the next over as Shafali went for a wild heave but missed and found the stumps disturbed. Alice Capsey arrived at the crease and straightaway released some pressure with three fours, but overall, it was MI's Powerplay.
Capsey and Lanning then upped the ante as they took the attack to Amelia Kerr and Sathyamoorthy Keerthana and scored 39 of the next four overs as DC reached 65/1 at the halfway stage.
Nat Sciver-Brunt then broke the 64-run stand as she dismissed Lanning (32 off 27) with the back-of-the-hand slower one. Capsey, though, continued to attack and went after Hayley Matthews in the 12th over, hitting a couple of huge sixes and a four to bring up her fifty off just 36 balls. Jemimah Rodrigues then joined the party after a slightly slow start as the two put on an exhibition of power and placement to add 74 off just 40 balls. Kerr finally got the breakthrough as she trapped Capsey LBW for 75(52). Jemimah departed for an aggressive 42 off 24 in the next over. Kapp then applied the finishing touches with a quick-fire 16 off 9 to propel DC to 171/5.