gujarat vs mumbai wpl 2025 : MI defeat Gujarat Giants 6-0 after surviving the Fulmali scare to advance to the final

Mumbai Indians defeated Gujarat Giants by nine runs, 179 to 6 (Harmanpreet 54, Sciver-Brunt 38, Mishra 1-23, Gardner 1-27) to 170 (Fulmali 61, Kerr 3-34, Matthews 3-38). Mumbai Indians (MI) continued their dominance over Gujarat Giants (GG) and took another step towards making a direct entry into the final of WPL 2025 with a nine-run win in their penultimate league match.  MI captain Harmanpreet Kaur scored her third half-century in four games at the Brabourne Stadium, and Bharti Fulmali scored her first WPL fifty, off just 22 balls, to give MI a big scare.

Both knocks were stroke-filled for the small home crowd. Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amanjot Kaur supported their captain in the first game of the season in Mumbai, helping MI score 179 for 6. In response, GG were kept on a short leash because there was no dew. Amelia Kerr and Shabnim Ismail shared five wickets - the latter delivering the key blows of Ashleigh Gardner and Phoebe Litchfield - as GG were all out for 170.  It was just the third time in 19 games this season that a team successfully defended a target.  It was MI's sixth win in six matches against GG in the WPL.

The win took MI to ten points, on par with Delhi Capitals, with a net run rate of 0.298 (just below DC's 0.396) and a game to spare.  To complete the league stage, they play Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Tuesday in less than 24 hours. MI must win that match to win the table and advance to the final, where the second-place team will play GG in an elimination round. Soon after GG fell just short, coach Michael Klinger said at the press conference that they tried to chase the target down in 18 overs, which would have taken them to the top of the table.

The Fulmali blitz causes a major panic. GG were 70 for 5 in the 11th over and Deandra Dottin had survived a dropped chance just before Fulmali walked out.  She began by taking Sciver-Brunt for three fours in an over, one square through the offside, one over cover, and one square leg. Fulmali's assault was unlike any other, outperforming Dottin and causing the opposition headaches. Kerr bowled Dottin shortly after, reducing GG's total to 88 off 41.

Fulmali then walloped Kerr over long-on and did the same to Amanjot in the next over.  Overall, she scored 24 off the nine balls she faced of Kerr, including a sequence of 6, 6, 4 which helped her to a 22-ball fifty before she fell in the same over.  That left GG needing 38 off the 18, which soon became 23 off 12 after Simran Shaikh, in for Dayalan Hemalatha, and Tanuja Kanwar hit Matthews for 15.  MI, on the other hand, prevailed over a frantic final to win their fifth match in seven. 

Opening troubles continue for MI
For the second game in a row, MI opened the batting with Kerr after being inserted.  She started with Kanwar's left-arm spin before clipping Kashvee Gautam for a four. She was run out after pushing one straight to Gardner at midfield and setting off, but she struggled to rotate strike. MI's powerplay momentum was provided by Matthews and Sciver-Brunt. They exploited the short boundary - the square boundaries measured 58m and 52m - by moving around the crease. Before aerially sweeping Kanwar in the same area for another, Matthews pulled her West Indies teammate Dottin over deep square leg for a six in the first over. Sciver-Brunt also swept Kanwar through short fine leg as MI were 44 for 1 after six overs.

The Kaurs set MI for a strong finish
Legspinner Priya Mishra had Matthews caught behind soon after the powerplay.  Harmanpreet started off quickly, reversed Mishra through short third with the back of her bat, and then attacked Meghna Singh in the lone over she bowled, as she has been doing this season. Together with Sciver-Brunt, she made sure that MI's run rate never fell below the early sevens. They added 59 off 40 before Gardner broke through.

That brought Amanjot to the crease at No. 5 for only the second time in the WPL.  She drove Dottin out of the way and then gave Gautam, with whom she has trained for over a decade, special treatment by hitting her for 4, 4, 6, which helped MI score 15 off the 17th over. Amanjot was caught at long-on by Gautam for a 15-ball 27 run out to end the 19-ball, 33-run stand. After that, Harmanpreet scored her half-century with just 31 balls as MI scored 55 in the final four overs, which was exactly the equation GG required to win.

Early strikes cost Giants
Having benched the misfiring Hemalatha, GG opted to use Gautam as the opener alongside Beth Mooney, who popped a catch to cover on the first ball of Matthews' spell.  Even though Gautam can hit big shots down the order, Ismail's high pace and swing made her feel like a deer caught in the headlights. Gautam was on 9 off 12 balls with nine dots at the end of the fifth over when GG were 34 for 1.  She just managed to get away from a 120kph short ball Ismail hurled at her.  In the final powerplay over, Gautam was stumped by Sanskriti Gupta's offspin. Ismail caught Gardner low at slip for a two-ball duck two balls later, dealing GG a devastating blow. Even though Harleen Deol hit five fours against spin, three of them off Matthews in a row, she missed a googly from Kerr and was caught lbw. Without Fulmali, GG might have lost steam and finished much lower than they did.