Mumbai Indians trounce Gujarat Giants in WPL again, clinch playoff berth
Mumbai, Mar 14: Mumbai Indians' juggernaut continued in the Women's Premier League here on Tuesday as the Harmanpreet Kaur-led team stormed to their fifth win in a row, crushing Gujarat Giants by 55 runs.
MI thus clinched a playoff berth with three matches still remaining.
After making a thumping start to the inaugural WPL against Gujarat Giants with a massive 143-run win at the DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai Indians once again got the better of their opponents with a comprehensive all-round show at the Brabourne Stadium.
Gujarat Giants, who stuttered to a fourth loss in five matches and remained on the penultimate spot in the five-team points table, made 107/9 in 20 overs chasing 163 on a pitch that had something for all parties.
In their previous meeting, Gujarat were bundled out for 64 in 15.1 overs in a chase of 208.
Hayley Matthews made up for her failure with the bat to return with 4-0-24-3 while leg-spinner Amelia Kerr bagged 2/18 to fuel Mumbai's yet another impressive win in front of a partisan crowd.
Also producing an all-round show for Mumbai was Nat Sciver-Brunt, who returned 4-0-21-3 after scoring a vital 36 off 31 balls studded with five fours and a six.
While each of Mumbai's overseas bowlers were among wickets, India's uncapped Saika Ishaque remained wicketless in her 4-0-20-0.
Mumbai Indians looked steady but not sure of a strong total at the halfway mark in their innings after being asked to bat first, having scored 64 for one in 10 overs.
However, captain Harmanpreet Kaur smashed a 30-ball 51 laced with seven fours and two sixes, her blitz powering Mumbai Indians to a challenging 162/8.
Yastika Bhatia (44) and Sciver-Brunt did well to consolidate, adding 74 for the second wicket.
After a sedate first half, Mumbai Indians went the aggressive route to add 98 runs in the last 10 overs.
In the second half, Mumbai Indians made a terrific start with Sciver-Brunt striking on the first ball, trapping the in-form Sophie Dunkley, who had struck 65 in her last outing at this venue.
Sabbhineni Meghana showed initial promise with some cracking boundaries, but perished for 16 off Hayley Matthews in the sixth over after a brief 21-run stand with Harleen Deol.
Matthews struck again three balls later, removing Annabel Sutherland for a four-ball duck to leave Gujarat tottering at 34/3 at the end of the powerplay.
With that, Matthews (9) moved up to the second spot in the list of bowlers with the most wickets, surpassing Delhi Capitals' Shikha Pandey (8) and Sophie Ecclestone (8) of the UP Warriorz.
Gujarat Giants not only struggled to get off the blocks but also lost wickets in heaps. After Isabelle Wong trapped Harleen Deol (22) leg-before before the first strategic break, Ashleigh Gardner (8) was dismissed right after resumption by Kerr, who also accounted for Dayalan Hemlatha (6).
Among the bright spots for Gujarat Giants was captain Sneh Rana's spell of 4-0-17-1 and a 19-ball 20 which helped stem the fall of wickets for a short while.
Kaur lost her fourth toss on the trot in WPL as Gujarat Giants captain Sneh Rana elected to field while making two changes. Laura Wolvaardt and Georgia Wareham made way for Dunkley and Sutherland, whereas Mumbai Indians remained unchanged.
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Stalin takes veiled dig at Palaniswami for doing ''politics'' by donning a farmer''s garb
Tiruvannamalai (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday took a veiled dig at AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami saying some do politics by donning the garb of a farmer and yet support laws that are detrimental to ryots.
In his address after inaugurating an agriculture expo and seminar here, the chief minister said that in giving priority to agriculture and farmers, "our Dravidian model government is a pioneer."
As soon as the DMK assumed office in 2021, the Department of Agriculture was renamed as "Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department."
Taking a veiled dig at the BJP, and DMK President said "some will change names according to their whims and fancies, but they will make farmers helpless and prompt them to hit the streets to stage protest."
The reference is perceived to be aimed at the BJP and the three controversial farm laws that were repealed later by the Centre following protests by farmers.
Furthermore, apparently targeting AIADMK chief Palaniswami, Stalin said, "some others engage in politics by donning the garb of a farmer."
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"However, they support laws that affect farmers; they will trivialise the struggles of farmers."
Stalin said that unlike others, for the Dravidian model government, the welfare and growth of farmers alone is important.
"That was why we thought of raising the income of farmers by increasing production and productivity," the CM noted.
As part of steps to achieve that goal, a separate budget --encompassing a slew of welfare measures-- for agriculture was introduced.
So far, 5 agri-budgets have been presented in the Assembly and in total, Rs 1.94 lakh crore was the allocation. The last agri-budget alone had an allocation of Rs 45,661 crore and when compared to allocation made in 2021-22, it was a 33 per cent increase.
The chief minister said: "Today, technology has advanced so much. Science and technology have progressed to the extent that tasks which used to take many hours can now be completed in a few minutes, and work done by hundreds of people can now be accomplished by a few machines."
Only when such advancement reaches the hands of farmers, it would transform into true development.
"We are organising these agricultural exhibitions so that you do not have to wander in search of these technologies," the CM said told the farmers.
Wondering if it was enough to hold only an exhibition, Stalin said, in order to make farmers understand concepts and use advancements, discussions with agricultural scientists in as many as 13 topics have been arranged to benefit them.
Through such seminars, farmers could learn new cultivation methods and agricultural business opportunities, he added.
On the occasion, the CM distributed welfare assistance to farmers, marking distribution to as many as 518 farmers, worth about Rs 9.43 crore.
The 2-day exhibition (on Dec 27 and 28, 2025 at Tirukovilur Road) that was inaugurated by the chief minister here was the third such event held by the state government this year. The first expo was held in June at Perunthurai in Erode district and the second was held at Chennai Trade Centre in the month of September.
In a separate government function held at Malappambadi in the district, the chief minister inaugurated as many 314 projects which includes new buildings for state-run healthcare facilities, government offices and a new police station in Tiruvannamalai (New Temple PS) town.
He laid foundation stone for 46 initiatives including a new paddy godown to be set up at Vembakkam. Also, he distributed welfare assistance --which includes housing pattas, houses under Kalaignar Kanavu Illam Thittam and crop loans-- to beneficiaries marking commencement of distribution to as many as 2,66,194 beneficiaries.
All such initiatives (including projects inaugurated by the CM) are cumulatively worth about Rs 2095.07 crore, the government said.
