Navi Mumbai, Jan 10 (IANS) Defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) bounced back within 24 hours of their 2026 WPL season opening loss to seal an emphatic 50-run victory over Delhi Capitals (DC) at the DY Patil Stadium on Saturday.

Nat Sciver‑Brunt and captain Harmanpreet Kaur set the tone with authoritative knocks of 70 and 74 not out to guide MI to 195/4. DC’s chase faltered from the outset as their top order collapsed inside the powerplay.

From there, despite Chinelle Henry’s 56, the pursuit of 195 became increasingly out of reach as DC were bowled out for 149 in 19 overs, as MI opened their account in an emphatic fashion. For MI, Amelia Kerr and Nicola Carey bowled decisive spells to pick three-fers each.

Asked to bat first, MI showed greater intent as compared to their previous outing. Though the openers fell early, Nat anchored the innings with her sparkling 13 boundaries to hit 70 off 46 balls. She also shared a 66-run stand with Harmanpreet, who was at her blistering best to hit an unbeaten 74 off 42 balls, laced with eight fours and three sixes, and push MI to an above-par total by feasting on DC’s many hittable deliveries.

DC had a brilliant start as Amelia Kerr’s opening woes led to her playing a loose drive off Chinelle Henry and wicketkeeper Lizelle Lee dived to her right to take the catch on her second attempt. Nat collected her first boundary by driving firmly past mid‑off for four, before pushing in the gap through off-side to pick another boundary.

The England skipper followed it up with a series of crisp strokes – swatting Marizanne Kapp for four, before swiping and lofting Chinelle for consecutive boundaries. G Kamalini opened her account with singles against Marizanne Kapp before a lucky outside edge got her a boundary. But Nat continued to accelerate – shuffling across to sweep Sree Charani twice to the fence in the fifth over.

The breakthrough for DC came when debutant pacer Nandani Sharma, after being hit for back‑to‑back boundaries by Kamalini, forced the left-hander to drive at a very full ball and was caught behind by Lizelle for 16. Nat continued to pick boundaries with precision – reverse-sweeping and pulling off Sneh Raha, before punching Charani through the gap at cover.

After getting her fifty off 32 balls, Nat punished Minnu Mani by hitting three boundaries in five balls – driving over extra cover, flat‑batting over the infield and pulled in front of square. Harmanpreet, meanwhile, broke the shackles by lifting Chinelle’s slower ball over long‑on for six before lofting the next delivery over mid‑off for four.

Nat attempted to drive Charani over extra cover but failed to generate elevation, as the fielder held a sharp catch to end a fluent 70-run knock. Harmanpreet led MI’s surge by driving Charani and slogging Sneh for boundaries, while Nicola Carey provided valuable support, striking successive fours off Sneh Rana via reverse sweep and cut.

The duo took a boundary each off Marizanne, before Harmanpreet raised her fifty by swinging a full toss from Minnu over mid-wicket for six. But Nicola fell for 21 when she looked to pull off Nandani, but the ball crashed into the stumps. Harmanpreet ended the innings in style by striking Charani for four consecutive boundaries – slicing, sweeping, lofting and slicing – as 19 runs came off the final over.

Lizelle Lee began DC’s chase by picking two early fours, but chipped to mid-on off Nat Sciver-Brunt for 10. Shafali Verma followed her to the pavilion after being castled through the gate by an inswinger from Nicola Carey, who later got some nip back in to rattle Laura Wolvaardt’s off-stump.

Jemimah Rodrigues first outing as DC skipper ended at just one when she went for a flashy cut off Shabnim, but was caught by keeper G Kamalini diving to complete a sharp one‑handed take, as MI’s disciplined new‑ball attack dismantled their top order even before the powerplay had ended.

DC’s troubles deepened when Marizanne Kapp played a lofted drive off a pitched‑up delivery from Nicola, but only managed to get an outside edge and was caught by short third fielder for ten. Niki Prasad and Chinelle Henry provided brief resistance by striking six boundaries between themselves, before a googly from Amelia Kerr castled the former while trying to go across the line.

Despite losing wickets from the other end, Chinelle struck powerful boundaries to bring up her fifty off 30 balls. But that effort proved to be insufficient as DC fell way short, thus allowing MI to secure their first win of this season.

Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 195/4 in 20 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 74 not out, Nat Sciver-Brunt 70; Nandani Sharma 2-26, Chinelle Henry 1-32) beat Delhi Capitals 145 all out in 19 overs (Chinelle Henry 56; Amelia Kerr 3-24, Nicola Carey 3-37) by 50 runs

–IANS

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