BENGALURU: Gujarat Giants played into the hands of Mumbai Indians' pacer Shabnim Ismail (3/18) and leg-spinner Amelia Kerr (4/17) and were restricted to 126/9. But the defending champions almost made heavy weather of the below-par target in their second match of the Women's Premier League at the M Chinnaswamy stadium here.
But skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (46 n.o; 41b; 5x4; 1x6) and Kerr (31; 25b; 3x4) by then had put their team on the path to victory. Precariously placed at 49/3, the duo pulled Mumbai out of the woods with their 50-ball 66-run stand. By the time Lea Tahuhu ended their association by dismissing Kerr, Mumbai were in a safe zone, needing 12 of 24 deliveries. However, Gujarat were unwilling to go down without a fight and fought back with Tanuja Kanwar (2/21) cleaning up new bat Pooja Vastrakar. But that was too little too late as Mumbai wrapped up the five-wicket win in style with Harmanpreet signalling it with a maximum.
