WPL 2026, Match 19: Giants break MI jinx, secure Eliminator berth

Gujarat Giants (GG) and Mumbai Indians (MI) locked horns in Match 19 of the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2026 at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara on Friday, January 30. GG won the toss and elected to bat first in a must-win encounter for both the teams. Interestingly, no changes were made by either side to their XIs which played their previous respective match.

GG opener Sophie Devine got the team off to a fast start. However, Beth Mooney at the other end, was unable to get going and perished in the third over for 5(8). Anushka Sharma came in at number three and looked positive. The 22-year-old stroked boundaries at regular intervals as Devine appeared to slow down a little bit. GG, nevertheless, ended up at 48/1 at the end of the powerplay.

The scoring rate started to drop gradually afterwards as MI tightened the screws which brought not just one but two wickets. Both the set batters, Anushka (33 off 31) and Devine (25 off 21) were caught in the deep while upping the run rate. GG found themselves at 71/3 at the start of the 11th over, needing a rebuilding effort on a pitch which was not easy to bat on.

Captain Ashleigh Gardner and Georgia Wareham joined forces, scoring runs at a steady rate. The partnership started to flourish and the duo set a good platform for the death overs. The innings received a major boost in the 16th and 17th overs as the Australians took out 36 runs. But, MI clipped the partnership soon after as Gardner stepped out and was stumped for 46(28).

Wareham (44* off 26), with little support from Bharti Fulmali (5* off 6), managed to take GG to a competitive 167/4 at the end of their 20 overs. For MI, Amelia Kerr was the standout bowler with figures of 2/26.

The MI innings struggled to take off in the first few overs, the pressure of which brought a couple of wickets in the powerplay. Both the openers - Sajeevan Sajana (26 off 25) and Hayley Matthews (6 off 8) - were back to the pavilion as MI were going at less than six runs per over.

The first centurion of the league, Nat Sciver-Brunt, failed to get going as the 33-year-old was out for 2(6), compounding MI's problems. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Amelia Kerr got together and rebuilt the innings. The batters started to get comfortable at the crease and that reflected in the run-scoring rate which started to rise.

Kerr (20 off 16) played a crucial supporting hand before the Kiwi was sent back by Wareham, thus ending a 45-run partnership. New batter Amanjot Kaur joined her skipper as the equation looked daunting, 86 runs required off 48 balls. But, Harmanpreet was not going to let pressure affect her as the veteran began to attack the bowlers.

Amanjot, just like Kerr, helped her skipper with her plans but needed to do more herself. The required rate was not declining during the partnership and the pressure led to Amanjot's dismissal for 13(12) in the 17th over.

The onus fell on Harmanpreet to take her team home. The 36-year-old, who had got to her third fifty of the season off 34 balls just before Amanjot's wicket, had no choice now but to farm the strike and look for boundaries. With 37 runs needed off the last two overs, MI needed a miracle from Harmanpreet. The captain scored 11 runs from the penultimate over and struck two sixes off the first three balls of the last over.

With 14 runs needed off three balls, Harmanpreet (82* off 48) failed to keep the strike as a potential two runs turned into just one. In the end, GG won by 11 runs and qualified for the Eliminator. Significantly, it was their first-ever victory against MI as well.

MI's fate now depends on the last league match between Delhi Capitals (DC) and UP Warriorz (UP) on Sunday, February 1. A DC victory will eliminate MI while a UP win could still lead MI to the knockout.