Nat Sciver-Brunt plays a shot, Mumbai Indians Issy Wong with teammates celebrates the wicket of UP Warriorz's Sophie Ecclestone.(Photo | PTI)
NAVI MUMBAI: There was something peculiar about the way Nat Sciver-Brunt batted against India in the 2023 T20 World Cup clash in Gqeberha. In the lead-up to the match, the conversation had been around whether the England batters were going to keep an eye on the Indian spinners’ delivery stride to ensure they were staying behind the crease at the non-striker’s end. Sciver-Brunt, however, was doing more than just that.
In what was a crucial phase of play, the all-rounder was navigating the Indian spinners with ease. How? She was keeping a close eye on the release of the ball and what the delivery does from the non-striker’s end and was passing information, first to Heather Knight and then to Amy Jones. Her 42-ball 50 might not have been the most impactful knock of the day, but what she did on the field was.
Cut to March 24, 2023 and she found herself in the middle, this time for Mumbai Indians at the DY Patil Stadium, against the likes of Deepti Sharma and Rajeshwari Yadav, the duo she had taken apart at Gqeberha. It was the eliminator of the Women’s Premier League and the all-rounder stepped up to the occasion. She smashed an unbeaten 72 from 38 balls and helped Mumbai finish with 182/4.
However, the scorecard doesn’t tell the full story. Having been dropped by her England teammate Sophie Ecclestone, she capitalised. Against Ecclestone, she read the line early to shuffle across and lap her behind the square. When Parshavi Chopra took a wicket, she put pressure on her immediately by rocking back and pulling her to the ropes. Against Sharma, she did not hesitate to jump down the track to hit her down the ground.
She brought up her fifty in 26 balls. From thereon, it was just carnage. Perhaps, what did not go their way is the fact that they had left out Shabnim Ismail for Harris. As a result, Sciver-Brunt faced 33 of her 38 balls from spinners from which she hit 65 runs. In reply, Warriorz managed only 110 as Issy Wong proved too hot to handle, a hat-trick the icing on her figures of 4/15 in four overs.
Brief scores: MI 182/4 in 20 ovs (Nat 72 n.o, Kerr 29) bt UPW 110 in 17.4 ovs (Navgire 43, Wong 4/15).
