Preview of the Eliminator Match: MI-W vs GG-W in WPL 2024/25

Mumbai Indians (MI) face Gujarat Giants (GG) in a WPL eliminator at Brabourne Stadium. Both teams enter after losses, but MI appears more pressured, having dropped catches and played consecutively over four days. Despite GG’s solid form, they’ve never beaten MI in three seasons, holding a 6-0 record against them. Key players include MI’s Harmanpreet Kaur, with a stellar average against GG, and GG’s Beth Mooney, who needs to improve her performance. Crucial factors will be MI’s strong bowling against GG’s middle-order batting. The outcome may hinge on longer batting partnerships and player performances in crucial moments.

Who is competing

Mumbai Indians (MI) vs Gujarat Giants (GG)
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, 7.30pm IST

What to anticipate: two struggling teams seeking a place in the final

Despite both the Gujarat Giants and Mumbai Indians entering the eliminator after defeats in their last league matches, Mumbai appears slightly more troubled. They lost their inaugural home match at Brabourne Stadium in the WPL on Tuesday, dropped four catches, conceded numerous runs, and are experiencing non-stop cricket as the tournament winds down. Thursday’s eliminator will mark their third game in four days, following consecutive matches at the beginning of the week. If they reach the final, it will mean four matches in just six days for Mumbai.

In contrast, the Giants are not facing such difficulties. Their defeat to Mumbai on Monday was by a narrow margin of nine runs, courtesy of Bharti Fulmali’s explosive finish. Their Indian players are stepping up to alleviate some pressure off the overseas stars, and a streak of three consecutive victories leading into the Mumbai match will have boosted their confidence significantly.

However, they have yet to secure a win against Mumbai. In the three seasons of the WPL, Mumbai holds a 6-0 advantage over the Giants, but based on their latest encounter, the upcoming match may not be as uneven as this statistic implies. A key contributor to the Giants’ success in the points table has been their middle-order batting, spearheaded by captain Ashleigh Gardner and Deandra Dottin, although they have struggled to find a suitable opening partner for Beth Mooney. The Giants have been the slowest starters in the powerplay this WPL (run rate 5.97), but they remarkably accelerate during the middle overs with a scoring rate of 8.81 (the best in the league), and they have also been the second-best finishers in the death overs (10 per over), just behind Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Following the trends of this WPL, the deciding factor in the match might depend on the Giants’ performance in the middle overs, where they will seek to assert control against Mumbai’s formidable bowling attack – statistically the strongest during that phase. Amelia Kerr, their key bowler in the middle overs, may have conceded a fair number of runs on Tuesday, but had all the catches been taken off her deliveries, her figures could have significantly improved. Her ability to thrive under pressure is exemplified by her past performances, including the T20 World Cup last year, and she might showcase that quality once again on Thursday.

As both teams approach the toss, both captains will likely feel relieved that the coin toss might not be overly crucial: while teams have generally favored chasing, recently the trend has shifted with teams batting first triumphing in the last three games, following a period where only two out of 17 games were won by the team batting first.

While Mumbai aims for their second final in three years after being eliminated by RCB last year, it is now up to the Giants to prevent this year’s final from becoming a repeat encounter with what transpired in 2023.

Current form

Mumbai Indians LWWLW (last five matches, most recent first)
Gujarat Giants LWWWL

Team updates

Both teams went with the same lineup for their most recent league matches but will be worried about their opening combinations. While the Giants have struggled to find a suitable partner for Mooney, Mumbai’s decision to elevate Kerr to the top order has yet to yield positive results across three attempts.

Gujarat Giants (probable): 1 Beth Mooney (wk), 2 Kashvee Gautam, 3 Harleen Deol, 4 Ashleigh Gardner (capt), 5 Phoebe Lichfield, 6 Deandra Dottin, 7 Bharti Fulmali, 8 Simran Shaikh, 9 Tanuja Kanwar, 10 Meghna Singh, 11 Priya Mishra

Mumbai Indians (probable): 1 Hayley Matthews, 2 Amelia Kerr, 3 Nat Sciver-Brunt, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Amanjot Kaur, 6 Yastika Bhatia (wk), 7 G Kamalini, 8 S Sajana, 9 Sanskriti Gupta, 10 Shabnim Ismail, 11 Parunika Sisodia

Players to keep an eye on: Harmanpreet Kaur and Beth Mooney

Harmanpreet Kaur has a penchant for excelling against the Giants. She carries an impressive average of nearly 79 in their encounters, hits at a strike rate of 171, and has four half-centuries to her name against them. Her cumulative total of 315 runs is the highest scored by any batter against the Giants. Although she hasn’t consistently performed this season, another substantial innings against the Giants could bolster her confidence leading into a potential final.

Beth Mooney has been the cornerstone for the Giants at the top of the order for significant portions of the season. Thankfully, Harleen Deol has hit form lately at No. 3, but Mooney has been essential in providing steady albeit cautious starts. The openers from RCB demonstrated on Tuesday that Mumbai’s top bowlers can be targeted, and Mooney might take a cue from Smriti Mandhana’s approach. With two half-centuries this season – far from her best performance – she will be eager to secure a large score against Mumbai’s nemesis in this eliminator.

Notable statistics

An approximate average of 70 accompanied by a strike rate nearing 153 is quite exceptional in WT20s, highlighting Nat Sciver-Brunt’s outstanding form this season. She currently holds the Orange Cup, having become the first batter to surpass 400 runs in a WPL season. If she achieves another score of 80 on Thursday – her highest in the WPL – she will become the first player to accumulate 1000 WPL runs.

Ash Gardner stands as the leading run-scorer (559) and top wicket-taker (25) in Giants’ WPL history.

Three allrounders from Mumbai and Giants have recorded over 200 runs and more than five wickets so far this season: Sciver-Brunt, Hayley Matthews, and Gardner.

Kerr and Matthews are currently tied for the highest number of wickets taken in this WPL with 14 each, while the Giants’ leading wicket-taker is Kashvee Gautam with ten.

Vishal Dikshit serves as an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo