Mumbai Indians 162 for 8 (Harmanpreet 51, Yastika 44, Gardner 3-34) beat Gujarat Giants 107 for 9 (Harleen 22, Sciver-Brunt 3-21, Matthews 3-23, Kerr 2-18) via 55 runs
That’s when she sought out a sports activities psychologist to transparent her thoughts and unfastened herself as much as be the fearless batter she was once identified to be, as a substitute of enjoying with an inherent concern.
Twelve months later, Harmanpreet is elevating the bar and revelling within the freedom she turns out to have given herself. It’s additionally the type of freedom that includes realizing she leads a bunch of extremely professional fit-winners at Mumbai Indians within the inaugural Women’s Premier League.
And Harmanpreet’s knock did simply that. Even if it wasn’t somewhat the showstopper, it had sufficient punch to lend a hand ship a 5th directly win that has assured Mumbai a playoff berth. For the document, they are the one unbeaten staff whilst the contest has veered previous the midway mark.
Her 51 off 30 balls had the entire conventional parts: the top backlift, the ferocious sweeps, deft touches and robust backside hand. These helped her reel off seven fours and two sixes, each off Annabel Sutherland within the penultimate over.
The first was once a formidable heave over sq. leg off a top complete toss, and the second one a advantageous concoction of wrist paintings and timing as she stood deep in her crease and transformed a yorker-period supply right into a part-volley that she whipped over the ropes.
Before that, it was once about her smarts. Harmanpreet peppered the very barriers bowlers have been dreading after they tried to bowl vast outdoor off in an try to bowl outdoor her arc.
She was once in a position to take action via status on center-stump after which shuffling throughout to get with regards to the road and let her instincts take over. Then when she had the bowlers 2nd-guessing, she outfoxed them via dabbing or reducing equivalent deliveries at the back of sq. at the off facet.
When in complete float, Harmanpreet can hit equivalent deliveries to other arcs. That’s force sufficient for the bowlers, even supposing they are as professional and skilled as Ashleigh Gardner, who within the ultimate over discovered herself walloped to the leg-facet boundary in spite of having 3 fielders patrolling the deep.
The 2nd ball of the general over was once complete on center-and-off which Harmanpreet slog-swept into the space between vast lengthy-on and deep midwicket. Anticipating every other shuffle to play a equivalent shot, Gardner tossed it up wider, most effective to look the ball scythed over further duvet as Harmanpreet raised a 29-ball part-century within the ultimate over of the innings. It was once her 2nd directly fifty-plus ranking and 3rd total within the season.
It helped Mumbai post 162, which looked like 200 on a floor the place their cunning spinners got here into their very own.
In successful, Mumbai additionally become the primary staff within the WPL to effectively protect a ranking underneath 200.
Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo