WPL 2023: Harmanpreet Kaur Makes THIS Record As Mumbai Indians' Big Win Refreshes Memories Of First IPL Match

In IPL 2008, RCB head beaten KKR by 140 runs to kickstart the league and on Saturday, Mumbai Indians beat Gujarat Giants by 143 runs in a one-sided contest to launch the Women's Premier League

Source: Twitter

Mumbai Indians (MI) displayed a dominant performance in just their first match of the inaugural season of Women's Premier League (WPL 2023) registering a big victory by crushing a listless Gujarat Giants (GG) by a margin of 143 runs, on Saturday (March 4). Captain Harmanpreet Kaur led the side superbly, smashing a blistering 65 off just 30 balls that included 14 fours but no maximums. In the process, Harman also recorded the first half-century of the WPL 2023, a record that will always be remembered when the history of WPL is written.

After the tournament kickstarted with a grand opening ceremony as likes of Kiara Advani, Kriti Sanon and AP Dhillon danced their way into the hearts of fans, it was turn of Harmanpreet to take over soon after the toss happened. GG won the toss and decided to bowl. That gave MI the chance to put on a high total on the board. Harmanpreet knew she had to make a bold statement among the teams from the word go and ensured the good start given by the top order was not ruined as she started play big shots right from the start of her innings. Mumbai eventually became the first team in WPL to cross the 200-run mark as well. The 200-run mark is something you do not really associate with women's cricket and these are early signs that WPL is going to change a lot of things. 

Hayley Matthews (47 off 31) and Amelia Kerr (45 off 24) too played brilliant innings with Pooja Vastrakar providing a great finish (15 off 8) as MI posted 207 for 5 at the end of 20 overs. 

A special celebration to mark a historic occasion! __

The #TATAWPL has truly begun! _ pic.twitter.com/4OFP4zun4G

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 4, 2023

It was always going to be a tough chase for Giants but no one expected to them give up so early into the innings. Their innings never picked up as they kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and lost by a massive margin, which has dented their NRR (-7.150). Injury to Beth Mooney is also a big concern as we await a detailed report on it.

It is interesting to now that the first IPL match was also a one-sided affair wherein KKR beat RCB by 140 runs. That was the game when Brendon McCullum smashed 158.