Matthews, Sciver-Brunt carry Mumbai Indians into WPL final
Mumbai, Mar 13 (PTI): Nat Sciver-Brunt and Hayley Matthews carried Mumbai Indians to their second WPL final as their power-packed knocks laid the cornerstone for the team's 47-run win over Gujarat Giants in the Eliminator here on Thursday.
After a rather sedate powerplay, Sciver-Brunt (77 off 41) and Matthews (77 off 50) displayed brute force to fire Mumbai Indians to a daunting 213 for four.
Mumbai Indians skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (36 off 12) provided the finishing touches with a crisp cameo.
After an ordinary show in the field and with the ball, the Giants were on self-destructing mode in the chase with three run-outs being an indicator of that.
Their innings ended at 166 all out in 19.2 overs with Matthews also chipping in with the ball, striking twice.
It was Mumbai Indians' seventh straight win over the Giants in WPL history.
Mumbai Indians, who won the inaugural edition in 2023, will meet Delhi Capitals in the final on Saturday.
Debutant Daniell Gibson (34 off 24) and Phoebe Litchfield (31 off 20) looked in threatening touch but regular fall of wickets kept pegging the Giants back.
The highlight of Litchfield's effort was the switch hit of Matthews.
Skipper Ashleigh Gardner, who bailed her team out on multiple occasions, had an off day with the bat.
Indian batter Bharti Fulmali delayed the inevitable with an impressive 30 off 20 balls.
Having finished last in the past two seasons, reaching the knock-out stage was a welcome result for Gujarat Giants.
Earlier Sciver-Brunt, who forms the backbone of Mumbai Indians batting, disdainfully smashed pacers and spinners, collecting 10 fours and two sixes in the process.
Realising Mumbai had got only 37 in the powerplay, Matthews and Sciver-Brunt changed gears.
While the England batter took the attack to debutant pacer Danielle Gibson, Matthews hammered three consecutive boundaries off leg-spinner Priya Mishra.
Matthews, who began cautiously before cutting loose, got to her fifty with a six off a long hop from left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwer.
In the death overs, it was raining sixes from the bat of Harmanpreet who cleared the ropes four times in her sizzling effort.
Mumbai Indians smashed 73 in the last five overs.
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Delhi CM Rekha Gupta accuses Mamata Banerjee of stalling SIR; TMC hits back
Kolkata (PTI): Alleging that her West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee had approached the Supreme Court to stall the SIR exercise to prevent the identification of infiltrators, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday claimed that the people of the state have made up their minds to dislodge the Trinamool Congress from power.
The TMC countered strongly, urging Gupta to "look into her own backyard" and accused her of making absurd allegations against the TMC government without checking facts.
Addressing participants at the 'Nari Sankalp Yatra' organised by the BJP's women's wing at Science City auditorium here, Gupta alleged that the "hands-off" and appeasement policies of the TMC government had allowed thousands of infiltrators to enter the state in recent years.
She claimed that this had put a strain on basic rights such as access to water, electricity, ration, education, livelihood and the right to vote for genuine citizens.
"She wants to perpetuate this and hence is trying to stall the SIR exercise, which aims at identifying and deporting infiltrators. Imagine a chief minister going to the apex court to argue against an exercise meant to ensure free and fair polls," Gupta said.
The BJP leader alleged that appeasement politics had reached an "alarming level" under the TMC regime.
Raising concerns over women's safety, she claimed that women in the state were not secure despite having a woman chief minister.
Referring to the rape-murder of a woman doctor at RG Kar Hospital, Gupta alleged that the state government had failed to respond adequately to such crimes.
She also referred to the alleged rape of a woman medic in Durgapur and another law student on a Kolkata college campus, claiming that criminals had been emboldened to commit brutalities against women.
She alleged that in crimes against women, overall crime incidents and child marriages, West Bengal remained among the top -- "a slur on a state which once led intellectual and social movements and set examples for the rest of the country," she said.
Criticising the state government's welfare initiatives, she said schemes such as Kanyashree were built on "false claims" and asserted that women needed security rather than assurances.
Accusing the state government of blocking central schemes, Gupta alleged that funds worth "lakhs of crores of rupees" had not reached the poor due to non-implementation of programmes such as Ayushman Bharat, PM Awas Yojana and Jal Jeevan Mission by the state.
"You are only interested in renaming projects and taking credit," she said.
Gupta also alleged that the education sector in the state had been adversely affected, saying several state-run schools had closed due to a shortage of teachers and that the government was opposed to the National Education Policy.
Drawing a comparison with BJP-ruled Delhi, Gupta said, "People have already voted out 'Bhaia' (a reference to former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal). Now it is your turn to bid farewell to 'Didi'." Calling upon women to resist what she termed "strong-arm tactics", she urged them to assert their strength, invoking the imagery of Goddess Durga.
"Bengal has the right to live with dignity, and women have the right to live with dignity," she added.
Reacting to Gupta's allegations, West Bengal Women and Child Welfare minister Shashi Panja accused her of making "absurd allegations" against the Trinamool Congress government ahead of elections.
Panja alleged that during Gupta's tenure in Delhi, several incidents had raised serious concerns, including reports of missing young women and a blast near the Red Fort.
She also criticised the air pollution situation in the national capital, claiming that people were struggling to breathe.
The TMC leader said that despite being in power for a year, Gupta was making "tall claims" instead of addressing key issues in Delhi.
Panja further alleged that the Delhi CM visited West Bengal during elections to "peddle false allegations" against the state government.
Rebutting Gupta, the TMC said in a post on X said, "Madam why did you go off-script again? For your edification, here are the cold, hard facts: In total cases of crimes (IPC + SLL), Bengal ranks a respectable 15th, far safer than BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, which languish near the bottom."
"In overall crime rate, Bengal sits comfortably at 28th. Who's second? Your own Delhi. Double Engine Gujarat and Haryana grab 4th and 5th as top-tier crime havens," the TMC said.
"In child marriage, Assam again takes the shameful pole position. And yet you dare lecture Bengal? Stop embarrassing yourself, stop the hypocrisy, and maybe fix the rotting mess in your own backyard before pointing fingers at a state that's outperforming your disasters on every key metric," the TMC countered.
