Harmanpreet Kaur put on a masterclass in managing a chase as she shepherded the Mumbai Indians to a comfortable seven-wicket win over the Gujarat Giants in their Tata Women’s Premier League (WPL) match at the DY Patil Stadium on Tuesday night.
Harmanpreet, the Mumbai captain, made all the right calls as she steered her side to an eighth straight win over the Giants in the WPL.
At the toss, she felt that chasing was always the better option in night games, so she chose to bowl first.
Her bowlers did a fine job to restrict the Giants to 192-5. Harmanpreet then led her side to 193-3 in 19.2 overs.
This is Mumbai’s highest chase in the WPL, and the league’s second-highest chase overall.
It was also the Giants’ first loss of the season.
Aces the chase in style 😎
— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) January 13, 2026
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur leads @mipaltan to a dominating 7️⃣-wicket victory 💙
This is also #MI's highest successful run chase in #TATAWPL 🤝
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/Dxufu4Pisz #KhelEmotionKa | #MIvGG pic.twitter.com/IKoqVlYqhn
Harmanpreet scored an unbeaten 71 from 43 balls (7X4, 2X6). This is her 10th WPL half-century and her fifth against the Giants.
The Mumbai captain faced 33 balls to reach the milestone. She is now the Orange cap holder with 165 runs in three innings.
71* off just 43 deliveries in @mipaltan's highest successful #TATAWPL chase 💙
— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) January 13, 2026
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur is the Player of the Match 😎
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/Dxufu4Pisz#KhelEmotionKa | #MIvGG pic.twitter.com/ICEYjDZqzJ
“It was a good game. While bowling, we gave too many runs away. Batting wise, we were good, calculated really well. In a tournament like this, everyday you have to try and score 200 batting first or chase these many. You know you have to go and bat for your team. We have to calculate and keep batting accordingly. When you have that much clarity, you can just execute,” Harmanpreet revealed after the contest.
Mumbai were on 37-2 after 4.2 overs when she arrived at the crease. She stabilised things with a 72-run third-wicket partnership with Amanjot Kaur.
Harmanpreet anchored the innings while Amanjot took on the Giants’ bowling attack on her way to 40 from 26 balls.
The two teams were on almost level pegging, separated by a single wicket after 14 overs.
The Giants were on 124-4, while Mumbai were on 124-3 at the same stage. However, the difference was that Harmanpreet and Nicola Carey (38*) batted with greater impetus than the Giants.
The duo shared an unbroken 84-run fourth-wicket partnership that saw Mumbai home.
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Nicola Carey win it for the Mumbai Indians! 💙
— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) January 13, 2026
Partnership for the 4th wicket 👉 84*(43) 🤯
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/Dxufu4Pisz#TATAWPL | #KhelEmotionKa | #MIvGG pic.twitter.com/VObxSqBr1u
“My job is pretty easy coming in off the back of what Amanjot and Harmanpreet did. Been very enjoyable so far. In any game, you want to play to your strength and that is what I am trying to do. Swung and missed some times but you have to stick to it. Really good team performance,” Carey shared after the match.
COSTLY DROPS
The Giants could have created problems for Mumbai if they had held on to the two chances they had to dismiss Harmanpreet.
Ayushi Soni dropped the Mumbai skipper when she was 45 and then Bharti Fulmali also did so when she was on 52.
“It is a cliche but catches win matches. We pride ourselves on how we fielded in the first two games. We cannot drop world-class players,” Ashleigh Gardner, the Giants’ captain said.
Earlier in the evening, the Giants took a bold decision when they retired Soni.
The 25-year-old was on 11 off 14 balls when the Giants pulled her off to bring on Fulmali.
The move proved to be a masterstroke because the finisher found the middle of the bat as she smashed an unbeaten 36 runs from 15 balls. Her knock gave the Giants a shot at victory.
Fulmali stitched a brisk unbroken 56-run sixth-wicket partnership with Georgia Wareham off a mere 24 balls.
This was the Giants’ highest partnership. Wareham, who was also in good form, scored an unbeaten 33-ball 43.
Earlier in the Giants’ innings, Kanika Ahuja had given the Giants’ innings impetus with a brisk 35 from 18 balls.
The 23-year-old replaced Sophie Devine, who had fallen for eight runs off four balls. She shared a fruitful 42-run second-wicket partnership with Beth Mooney (33).
Shabnim Ismail, Hayley Matthews, Nicola Carey, and Amelia Kerr took a single wicket each for Mumbai.
However, Ismail, who kept things quiet in the powerplay with disciplined lines and length, was the most successful with a single wicket for 25 runs in four overs for an economy of 6.25 while the rest of the wicket takers went at nine runs an over or more.