Mumbai Indians were down and out – no team had scored more than 83 in the last six overs of an innings; they needed 91 in 36 balls with Harmanpreet Kaur in the middle.

She launched into fast bowlers Meghna Singh and Shabnam MD, and then took 24 off a Sneh Rana over as Mumbai hunted down Gujarat Giants’ 190 for 7 to book a playoffs spot for the second successive season. Harmanpreet changed gears on a click of a button and, from 20 off 21, rocketed to finish unbeaten 95 off just 48 balls as Mumbai recorded the highest successful run-chase in the WPL.

This was after a 121-run partnership between Beth Mooney and D Hemalatha had helped Giants to a score the latter felt was “20 to 30 short” at the halfway mark.

Last six overs – the contrast

On the back of a strong platform laid by Mooney and Hemalatha, Giants were set to breach the 200-run mark, with the Mumbai bowlers struggling to find their lines and lengths. They were placed at 150 for 2 with Hemalatha set and Phoebe Litchfield joining her. While hits came from Hemalatha, Mumbai managed to claw back from the other end. They gave away ten or more in an over only three times from that point, while regularly picking up wickets. The result? Giants could manage only 40 for 5 in the last six.

In contrast, Harmanpreet’s blitzkrieg put Giants’ bowlers, who had a good hold over the chase, off. Only twice did they manage to keep Mumbai to under ten an over in the last six overs. Mumbai raked up 91 in just 35 balls, as a result, and dashed Giants’ hopes.

Harmanpreet’s duel with Rana was fascinating. For long, the offspinner denied her India captain any room to swing through or free her arms. But with 70 needed off 26, Harmanpreet tried to take the aerial route and lofted one straight to long-on, where Litchfield dropped a sitter and gave away four. With 47 needed off 18 by the time Rana returned for her last over, Harmanpreet’s confidence was sky high. And both Giants and Rana paid the price with an over where she hit two sixes and three fours to all but seal the deal.

Bhatia leaves her stamp in the chase

Sure, Harmanpreet made the most noise in the chase, and rightly so. She is known for her belligerent ways, and it is at the crunch moments she often comes alive. But the one innings that kept Mumbai in the hunt was Yastika Bhatia’s. Even as Hayley Matthews, her opening partner, struggled to get off the mark, Bhatia exploited the short boundary, hammering Kathryn Bryce for a four and a six in the second over. Matthews briefly found her touch, which meant Mumbai stitched only their second 50-run opening stand this season. But Tanuja Kanwar had her caught at long-on right after the powerplay.

When young Shabnam, who was part of India’s win in the inaugural Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup last year, dismissed Nat Sciver-Brunt cheaply in the eighth over, Mumbai’s chase was over for all money.

But Bhatia kept finding the gaps and moved the scoreboard along. She used her feet against Rana, who was varied her flight and lines. She drilled one through covers before lofting her straight over the non-striker’s head in her next. But on 49, she top-edged Ashleigh Gardner to leave the game on tenterhooks.

Mooney stamps her class

After four losses in the Bengaluru leg, Mooney had bemoaned the lack of runs from her bat. And she responded with back-to-back fifties, after losing Laura Wolvaardt early. She used the pace Matthews offered her to glide one between short third and backward point to get off the mark. Shabnim Ismail’s pace only helped her score quickly – she made room to carve one over covers before punching one straight back in the powerplay. She used the short square boundaries on one side – they were 63m and 46m – to her advantage and never let the scoring rate dip.

Mooney displays several qualities that irks oppositions – finding boundaries at will, rotating strike that does not allow bowlers to settle, and compounding problems for the captain. The danger levels peaked when she scooped Pooja Vastrakar to two sixes over fine leg in the space of four balls. The Mumbai fast bowler dug both those deliveries on a length – one in line of the stumps, one angling away – but both met with the same fate. After a 140-run opening stand with Wolvaardt in the previous game, she added 121 for the second wicket with Hemalatha. Till she was dismissed – chopping on part-time offspinner S Sajana onto the stumps – she looked quite unstoppable.

Hemalatha shows her mettle

After Matthews struck in the third over, Hemalatha was promoted to No. 3 and she got going right away. She played a lofted cover drive off Saika Ishaque on her fifth ball and then went full tilt in Amelia Kerr’s first over. She welcomed the legspinner with a drive over covers before dancing down to thump her straight over. When Kerr went good length, Hemalatha went deep in her crease and cut her through point.

Hemalatha was also equally adept against pace on the night. She was unafraid to give Vastrakar the charge and take on the pull against her as well as Ismail. She also brought out the ramp against the bumpers from Ismail as she raced to a 28-ball half-century, her first of WPL 2024. She continued her assault even after Mooney’s dismissal before mistiming a loft straight to cover.

Mumbai reined Giants in with a tidy finish at the death, giving away just 30 runs in the last four overs and picking up three wickets. That proved to be a winning effort, in hindsight.