WPL GUJ-W vs MI-W: Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indias Full Awards List, Player of the Match, Captains' Words

It was a blockbuster start to the Women's Premier League as Mumbai Indians blasted all the fireworks in the opening match against Gujarat Giants on the first day of the tournament at the DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai.

The Paltan Women's side put a mammoth total of 207/5 as Harmanpreet Kaur (65 off 30 balls), Hayley Matthews (47 off 31 balls) and Amelia Kerr (45 off 24 balls) starred with the bat. In reply, Gujarat Giants crumbled to a huge defeat by 143 runs as they were bundled out for just 64 runs. Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amelia Kerr picked up two wickets each, while India's left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque had four scalps to her name. The Giants captain Beth Mooney was retired hurt and didn't come out to bat after that.

MI-W have opened their account and are off the mark with 2 points in the WPL table.

GUJ-W vs MI-W WPL 2023 Match Full List of Awards:

Here is the complete list of all awards from the WPL 2023 match between Gujarat Giants (GUJ-W) and Mumbai Indians (MI-W)-

Safari Powerful Striker of the Match:

Hayley Matthews on the award for hitting four sixes. She scored 47 runs off 31 balls.

Player of the Match:

MI-W captain Harmanpreet Kaur was awarded the player of the match award for her brilliant batting performance. She then led her troops extremely well as MI-W secured a historic victory.

Her knock of 65 runs had 14 boundaries in it, and she scored seven boundaries in seven consecutive balls at one instance.

Captains' Words:

Sneh Rana (GUJ-W stand in Captain):

India all-rounder Sneh Rana was the stand-in captain for the Giants as Beth Monney got injured.

"It's just the start, some of the players soak it up early, some will take time. I want to stand up for whatever the team needs, if I do get captaincy, we'll try and execute our plans better. This was just the first match, we need to keep our heads high, we have players who have done well at domestic and international levels and we will be surely looking to come back stronger tomorrow. It is a learning curve for the team and we'll come back strongly."

The physio will be better placed to explain the extent of captain Beth Mooney's injury - added Sneh Rana.

Harmanpreet Kaur (MI-W Captain):

"I think it was a brilliant start, it felt like a dream come true. Whatever we did worked out for us. We kept things clear and it is a big day for women's cricket, hence we talked about expressing ourselves in the field. I watched the ball nicely and backed myself. Whatever came my way, I backed myself and it went my way. We knew it was a good batting wicket and there is help for bowlers too. And I am happy that every bowler bowled well. It's a big day and big victory for us and we are really happy with our start."

Next Matches:

The Gujarat Giants will be back in action again on Sunday (March 5) as they take on UP Warriorz at the same venue. Mumbai Indians will play Royal Challengers Bangalore next Monday, March 6.