Allround show by Mathews, Brunt propel Mumbai Indians win

Mumbai: All-round performances by Hayley Mathews and Natalie Sciver-Brunt helped Mumbai Indians beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by nine wickets in the Women's Premier League (WPL) on Monday.Batting first, RCB were all out for 155 runs in 18.4 overs. Mumbai achieved the target of 156 runs in 14.2 overs by losing just one wicket.

Many RCB batsmen got good starts, but none could convert it into big innings. Wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh top scored for Bangalore with 28 off 26 balls with three fours and a six.

Mathews, who took three wickets with the ball, opened the innings for Mumbai and scored an unbeaten half-century to take the team to victory. She scored an unbeaten 77 off 38 balls with 13 fours and a six in his explosive innings.

Taking one wicket, Sciver Brunt supported Mathews with an unbeaten half-century of 55 off 29 balls with nine fours and a six. Both the batswomen dwarfed the target with an unbeaten 114-run partnership in just 56 balls for the second wicket and handed Mumbai an easy win.

Mumbai remain on top of the points table with two wins from two matches, while Bangalore are still waiting for their first win.

RCB made a brisk start after winning the toss while batting, but Saika Ishaq dismissed opener Sophie Devine and took a flurry of wickets. Devine scored 16 runs off 11 balls with two fours and a six.

Saika dismissed Disha Cassatt a ball later, while Smriti Mandhana (17 balls, five fours, 23 runs) and Heather Knight fell to Hayley Mathews in the next over.Richa handled the innings after four wickets fell in the space of four runs. She added 28 runs for the fifth wicket with Ellyse Perry (7 balls, 13 runs).

Perry was coming into her colors by hitting a four and a six but returned to the pavilion after being run out.Apart from Richa, Shreyanka Patel also contributed significantly in helping RCB reach a respectable score.

When Shreyanka came to bat, RCB had lost their sixth wicket in the form of Kanika Ahuja (13 balls, three sixes, one four, 22 runs) for 110 runs.After some time Richa also became a victim of Mathews.

Shreyanka then added 34 runs for the eighth wicket with Megan Schutt. She scored 23 runs in 15 balls with the help of four fours. After her wicket fell, RCB could only add nine runs to their score.

Schutt was dismissed as RCB's last batswoman after scoring 20 runs off 14 balls with three fours.Mathews was the best bowler for Mumbai, taking three wickets for 28 runs in four overs.

Saika and Amelia Kerr took two wickets each, while Natalie Sciver-Brunt and Pooja Vastrakar got one each.

Coming out to chase down the target for Mumbai, Mathews showed aggression from the very first over.Supporting her, opener Yastika Bhatia also added 23 runs off 19 balls with the help of four fours.

Mathews-Yastika put on a 45-run partnership for the first wicket to put RCB out of the match when Preeti Bose brought relief to her team by dismissing Yastika lbw.This, however, turned out to be RCB's last good moment in the match as Mathews was then joined by Sciver-Brunt.

Mumbai's chase did not stop after adding 54 runs in the powerplay.Namtheus took a single in the 10th over to reach her half-century in 26 balls. Sciver-Brunt also hit two consecutive fours in the next over to take Mumbai past the 100-run mark.

Sciver-Brunt eventually brought up her half-century with a four off the first ball of the 15th over, before hitting the winning four off the next ball to give Mumbai the win.RCB, who have lost both their matches, will next face Gujarat Giants on Wednesday, while Mumbai will face Delhi Capitals on Thursday.(UNI)