Gujarat Giants take on Mumbai Indians women in match 3 of WPL 2024 on Sunday, February 25, in Bengaluru. Bengaluru will host the first 11 games while Delhi will host the last remaining games including the Eliminator and the final.
Gujarat lost two Mumbai Indians twice in the last WPL season. Mumbai won the first match by 143 runs and the second by 55 runs. Mumbai are also the defending champions of the title.
Date and Venue
The Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians WPL 2024 match will be played in Bengaluru on Sunday, February 25. The match starts at 7.30 pm IST. The venue is known to be a high-scoring ground in T20I cricket.
Team Analysis- WPL 2024 Match 3
Gujarat Giants
They are the hosts of match-three and will host the Mumbai Indians. Gujarat Giants finished last in the inaugural edition of WPL 2023. They won just two games and lost six. However, heading into a new season. they have high hopes for the squad that they have gathered.
Beth Mooney will replace Sneh Rana as the skipper. She was ruled out last season with a hamstring injury. South African batter Laura Wolvaardt holds the key for the Giants this season. She was signed up as a replacement and batted well for the franchise. Mooney will hope that she remains fit throughout the season as he is another key batter for the franchise.
Among the important players for the franchise are Australia’s Phoebe Litchfield, and India’s Veda Krishnamurthy. Meanwhile, Kashvee Gautam, the season’s most expensive player bought by the Giants has been ruled out of the season with an injury. She will be replaced by Mumbai’s Sayali Sathgare
Gujarat Giants Squad
Beth Mooney (C), Ashleigh Gardner, Dayalan Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Laura Wolvaardt, Shabnam Shakil, Sneh Rana, Tanuja Kanwar, Phoebe Litchfield, Meghna Singh, Trisha Poojitha, Sayali Sathgare, Priya Mishra, Lea Tahuhu, Kathryn Bryce, Mannat Kashyap, Veda Krishnamurthy, Tarannum Pathan
Mumbai Indians Women
Mumbai Indias are the defending champions of the WPL. That adds a lot of expectations from the team to do well in back-to-back seasons. Harmanpreet Kaur is a seasoned captain and knows the conditions very well. She will have a plethora of experience to fall back on. The likes of Hayley Mathews, Amelia Kerr, Nat Scivetr-Brunt, and Saika Ishaque form the core of the side. The addition of pacer Shabnim Imail has further strengthened their bowling attack.
On paper, Mumbai is a much more experienced squad than Gujarat in the WPL. Mumbai Indians women won both their games batting first against Gujarat Giants last season. Hence the ploy will be to repeat the strategy and ask the Gujarat side to chase a stiff target.
Mumbai Indians Women Squad
Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Chloe Tryon, Hayley Matthews, Humaira Kazi, Issy Wong, Jintimani Kalita, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Pooja Vastrakar, Priyanka Bala, Saika Ishaque, Yastika Bhatia, Shabnim Ismail, S Sajana, Amandeep Kaur, Fatima Jaffer, Keerthana Balakrishnan
Also Read: Gujarat Giants sign Lea Tahuhu as the replacement for Lauren Cheatle
Key Battles
Beth Mooney vs Shabnim Ismail
Mooney will open the batting for Gujarat and thus will face the steam of Shanbim Ismail’s first-up. Ismail was released by UP Warriorz ahead of the WPL 2024 auction. Mumbai snapped her up at the first opportunity. In all T20is, Mooney has been dismissed by Ismail twice.
Harmanpreet Kaur vs Sneh Rana
The two Indian cricketers will have a go at each other. Harman leads Rana in the national cricket team and thus is very well aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Rana will need to bring her all experience to get the better of Kaur. Rana dismissed her in the first match last season.
Key Players
For Mumbai Indians, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Shaika Ishaque, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Yashtika Bhatia, Issy Wong, and Shaibmin Ismail are the key players.
For Gujarat Titans, skipper Beth Mooney, Laura Wolvaardt, Veda Krishnamurthy, Harleen Deo, and Ashleigh Gardner are the key players with bat and ball.
Weather and Pitch
The weather conditions for the Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians match are expected to be p[pleasant. There is no forecast of rain and the conditions will be clear with the temperatures around 25 degrees in the evening. The Chinnaswamy pitch is always a high-scoring pitch in T20Is. Scores of 200-plus have been regularly scored and chased down.
Conclusion
On paper, Mumbai Indians are a far stronger side than the Gujarat Titans. In the two meetings last year, Mumbai won by big margins against Gujarat. The trend is expected to continue as Mumbai might notch up their third straight win over Gujarat.
Also Read: Beth Mooney replaces Sneh Rana as Gujarat Giants skipper in WPL 2024
