Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Giants Tips & Preview – Defending Champions Eye Win Over Struggling Giants To Overtake RCB

• Mumbai have gone from red-hot to Luke-warm
• Giants’ batting clicks finally
• Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Giants, Tips and Predictions

The Gujarat Giants must be pleased to see their all-round game come together. With the bat, they walloped 199, the fifth-highest WPL score, and then subsided a power-packed Royal Challengers Bangalore on the field to close out their first win. It’s this confidence they will carry into their fixture against Mumbai Indians, who are smarting from a defeat to the Delhi Capitals. Mumbai appear slightly vulnerable for the first time in a while, and the Giants, having smelt blood now, will have another chance to build on their impressive gains.

Yastika Bhatia was the emerging player of the inaugural edition but hasn’t been fired as an opener like the team would’ve hoped she would be. Harmanpreet Kaur missed two games and looked rusty upon return. Shabnim Ismail set the record for the fastest ball in women’s cricket at 132.1kph alright, but has struggled with her consistency, particularly in the death overs. She was taken apart clinically by Jemimah Rodrigues.

Saika Ishaque is suffering from second-season blues, having picked up two wickets in five games. Batters are learning to play her out, and she is yet to come up with a counter against this strategy. Ishaque has also let down her team on the field with her catching and has sometimes been hidden across different pockets. All this has led to them suddenly going off the boil. It’s imperative all of them once again click in unison for them to get up and running again. By the time they take on Giants, they would’ve played the UP Warriorz in a crucial game for them.

After fielding three different opening pairs in their first three games, the Beth Mooney-Laura Wolvaardt duo has now opened for three games running. After two low scores, the partnership finally came to life in their first outing in New Delhi. She has the reputation of being an accumulator, but Wolvaardt batted out of her template to make a bruising 45-ball 76 in an opening partnership worth 140. Yet again, when you wondered if we’d see the first-ever century in WPL history, Wolvaardt was run out. Mooney batted through the innings to make 85 not out to ensure we nearly got the first 200-plus score of the season.

The Giants couldn’t have asked for a bigger morale boost than this. Their takedown of RCB was clinical. They made a bold call of batting first and backed that up with a superb performance. Mumbai Indians, watch out.