In a sensational display of batting, Mumbai Indians’ (MI) Nat Sciver-Brunt finally broke the WPL’s nervy run of near-misses, becoming the tournament’s first centurion as she powered MI to 199 for 4 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Monday. Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine had both fallen short of three figures earlier this season, dismissed on 96 and 95 respectively, a trend Sciver-Brunt was keen not to repeat in Vadodara.
“Yeah, obviously I’d seen a few players get out in the 90s, so I didn’t want to replicate that,” Sciver-Brunt said after the innings. “But I also wanted to get as many runs as possible for the team. I’m really pleased we could get up to that total, and personally really happy as well.”
Walking in at 16 for 1 in the third over, Sciver-Brunt stitched together two decisive partnerships: a match-defining 131 off 73 balls with opener Hayley Matthews, followed by a brisk 42 off 25 with captain Harmanpreet Kaur, as MI blew RCB away after being asked to bat.
She brought up her maiden T20 hundred in the final over, chipping Shreyanka Patil over the infield before removing her helmet and acknowledging the applause with a “T” celebration – a tribute to her son, Theodore Michael and and a gesture to her wife, Katherine Sciver-Brunt.
“Just a little nod to home,” she said. “Katherine is obviously watching – well, hopefully. She’s actually a really nervous watcher, so she’s probably not watching, but she wanted a ‘T’ and she wanted me to get three figures, so here we go.”
“I guess it’s my first T20 hundred, so I’m really happy to get over that milestone, and hopefully it’s not the last.”
On her partnership with Matthews, Sciver-Brunt added: “Yeah, absolutely. Hayley will be so pleased to come back after a pretty long injury lay-off and get that kind of score. I really enjoy batting with her when I get the chance.”
