WPL: Nat Sciver-Brunt contributes to MI's one-sided win against RCB

Mumbai Indians beat Royal Challengers Bangalore in the fourth match of the 2023 Women's Premier League (WPL) at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. MI successfully chased 156, with star opener Hayley Matthews (77*) anchoring their innings. She also took three wickets. Meanwhile, Natalie Sciver-Brunt (55*) played second fiddle, sharing a century stand with Matthews. Nat smashed 9 fours and 1 six, having struck at 189.66.

Nat had a cautious approach at the start as Matthews continued to bash the RCBW bowlers. The former rotated the strike, with Matthews knocking it around. Nat accelerated once MIW were in a commanding position to win the match. She raced to her half-century off 28 balls only on the penultimate delivery of the match. Nat finished with 55* off 29 balls.

England all-rounder Nat was sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs. 3.2 crore in the inaugural WPL auction. She has so far smashed 2,175 runs in 108 WT20Is at an average of 26.85 (SR: 114.77). The tally includes 12 fifties with her best score being 82. With the ball, she has claimed 79 wickets at an economy rate of 6.47.

RCBW had a fruitful start after electing to bat. Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine propelled the Royal Challengers to 35/0 in four overs. However, RCBW lost four wickets (47/4) in the Powerplay. Richa Ghosh joined forces with Kanika Ahuja to reconstruct RCBW's innings, but MIW bowlers had the last laugh. Matthews and Nat made the chase one-sided for MIW (159/1 in 14.2 overs).