WPL 2024: 3 records that were broken during MI's scintillating win vs GG in Match 16
A 'Harmanpreet Kaur special' saw Mumbai Indians (MI) win Match 16 of the ongoing Women's Premier League (WPL) 2024 against the Gujarat Giants (GG) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday, March 09.
Harmanpreet played perhaps the best knock in WPL history, clobbering 10 fours and five sixes en route to her match-winning 95* off just 48 balls. She single-handedly bailed MI out of trouble when the side needed 91 runs with only six overs remaining.
However, her brilliant knock took MI over the finishing line and even made them the first franchise to qualify for the playoffs in WPL 2024.
Earlier, Gujarat Giants posted a huge first-innings total of 190/7. Skipper Beth Mooney played a captain's innings of 66 off 35 balls while Dayalan Hemalatha top-scored with a 40-ball 74.
At one point of time, GG were looking to breach the 200-run mark but MI bowlers gave away only 51 runs and even took six wickets in the last seven overs.
As the entertaining match is now finished, let us take a look at three big records that were broken during the MI vs GG WPL 2024 fixture.
#3 Best batting average in WPL
Harmanpreet Kaur, who started her WPL 2024 campaign with a fifty, turned up the heat once again. The GG bowlers were sent all around the park by the Indian captain as she made a superlative 95*.
With this, Harmanpreet now has the best batting average by a player in the league's history. After batting for 14 innings, the 35-year-old has mustered 516 runs at a strike rate of 140.60.
Her batting average of 51.60 has now surpassed Meg Lanning's average of 46.62 in WPL (only for players who have scored a minimum of 100 runs in WPL).
#2 Highest individual score by an Indian in WPL
The match-winning performance from Harmanpreet Kaur saw her rack up 95* runs in only 48 balls in the second innings. She clobbered ten boundaries and as many as five lusty maximums during her stay.
When the scores were level, Harmanpreet needed six runs to complete her hundred. Unfortunately for her, she failed to connect the ball but took a single to finish the job for MI.
Nevertheless, Harmanpreet's unbeaten 95-run is now the highest individual score by an Indian in WPL history. Previously, the record was held by Delhi Capitals' Shafali Verma, who scored 84 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2023.
Overall, Harmanpreet's knock is the third-highest individual score in WPL after Sophie Devine's 99 and Alyssa Healy's 96 last season.
#1 Highest successful run-chase in WPL history
Hunting down the steep target of 191 was always going to be tough for Mumbai. However, the defending champions were remarkable at the end, which led to a memorable win for them.
The MI outfit now holds the record of successfully chasing down the highest team total (191) in WPL history. They have bettered RCB's record. The Smriti Mandhana-led side chased down 189 runs against GG at the Brabourne Stadium in 2023.
Apart from this, this is now also the highest run-chase in WPL or Indian Premier League (IPL) history at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. Previously, the Delhi Capitals' men's team chased down a target of 182 vs RCB in IPL 2023.