🏏WPL 2026: Match 6: MIW vs GGW at Navi Mumbai on 13/01/26🏏 - Page 3

"Fun Fact: Gujarat Giants have all Lost all the 7 Clashes against Mumbai Indians so far in WPL. Hope they finally break the shackles and Win against MI Tonight !!"

Nicola Carey | MI Women: It’s been really fun. I’ve been here for a couple of weeks now and have thoroughly enjoyed my time so far. It’s a great group of girls. I think we started the tournament okay, and now we’re just looking to carry what we did in the last game into this one. Probably that first over I bowled was a real eye-opener in terms of what lengths not to bowl, especially with such small boundaries. Look, it’s always going to be high-scoring games here - small boundaries, really good outfields, and pretty good wickets as well. It can be tricky at times to nail that into-the-wicket sort of length. But batters are so good these days that even that can disappear over the boundary. So sometimes it’s a bit of luck, you just bowl it and hope for the best. It finally pays off being a little bit short (laughs). To be fair, I haven’t thought much past this tournament. Like I’ve said before, I’m really happy doing what I’m doing, and I honestly don’t look too far ahead. Right now, I’m just focused on getting through this tournament. There’s still a fair bit to play out here, and then I guess we’ll see what happens from there. They (Gujarat Giants) have got some outstanding players, especially at the top of the order. We’ve seen how powerful they can be. We’re going to have to do a fair bit to try and contain them and ideally get them out early, then get into their middle to lower order, which we probably haven’t seen much of yet. They’ve certainly been firing, so it’s a tough task ahead, but I think the girls are up for it.

Pitch and conditions: It’s Match Number 6 here at the fourth season of the Women’s Premier League. We’re out on Pitch Number Four. There was a previous double-header played here, and in terms of the dimensions: straight down the ground it’s 66 metres, to my right it’s 53 metres, and to my left, 58 metres. This pitch looks really good. It’s a red-soil surface, which means there will be a bit of bounce as well, and batters will be able to play freely and play their shots. However, during the earlier double-header, we did see a little bit of deviation off the surface for the fast bowlers. We saw Carey use that really well - she used the seam to good effect and managed to jag the ball both ways, which caused some problems for the batters. She picked up wickets and did exactly what needs to be done on a surface like this. The spinners could find it challenging here. On one side, the boundaries are shorter, and there are batters who can really go big on both sides of the wicket. So it’s going to be a testing evening for the spinners, but I’m sure we’re in for a very good contest. This is a good batting surface. Both sides are strong and have quality batters in their line-ups, so you can expect a score of at least around 180 here.

Both GG and MI have only batted first so far this season, meaning one of them will have to do something they have not. Who will be chasing for the first time this campaign? Toss in 5.

Toss won by MIW and opted to bowl first.

Mumbai Indians Women have won the toss and have opted to field

Mumbai Indians XI: G Kamalini (wk), Hayley Matthews, Amelia Kerr, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Nicola Carey, Sajeevan Sajana, Amanjot Kaur, Poonam Khemnar, Shabnim Ismail, Sanskriti Gupta, Triveni Vasistha

Gujarat Giants XI: Beth Mooney (wk), Sophie Devine, Ayushi Soni, Ashleigh Gardner (capt), Georgia Wareham, Bharti Fulmali, Kashvee Gautam, Kanika Ahuja, Tanuja Kanwar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Singh

Harmanpreet Kaur: We’re going to bowl first. I believe in dew, and especially when you’re playing late games, chasing is always a better option. I think we’re ticking all the areas. We’re discussing in the meetings and the bowlers are coming and executing their plans. I think while batting, the first six overs is something we’re really looking to go and bat positively. And now Hayley’s back, she’s fit, so hopefully we’ll click in that area as well. Unfortunately, Nat (Sciver-Brunt) is not well today, so in place of her, Hayley’s back. She’s someone who, you know, always does well with both bat and ball, and we’re really looking to, you know, have her come in and take responsibility for the team.

Mumbai Indians Women (Playing XI): Hayley Matthews, G Kamalini(w), Amelia Kerr, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Nicola Carey, Sajeevan Sajana, Amanjot Kaur, Sanskriti Gupta, Poonam Khemnar, Shabnim Ismail, Triveni Vasistha

Mumbai Indians Women have won the toss and have opted to field

"Until now, there has been no superover among this rivalry yet" -- No time quite like the present, eh?

Ashleigh Gardner: I can’t win one (toss) at the moment, but that’s okay. I think the powerplay has been a huge one. Obviously, we’ve got so much experience at the top of the order with Sophie and Moons batting together. They’ve spent so much time out in the middle in franchise cricket. So I guess to have a combination that’s worked in the past and be able to put it into practice here has been really pleasing to see. Hopefully, we can do it again. You’ll probably have to wait and see. I feel like sometimes it’s almost just going with your gut. Some people bowl really well on the day, and you kind of throw them the ball and ask them to do a job. But I think for us, it’s about keeping our plans really simple. You know this ground, it’s obviously really hard to defend. So making sure that we put on a big total for them to hopefully not chase. Overseas players add a lot of experience and depth, but I think the Indian players are actually the ones who win you tournaments. All the Indian players who’ve come in and done a job for us have been fantastic. They’ve stepped up at different times, and I guess as a captain it makes your job a little bit easier, not having to rely on one or two players or overseas players for that matter. So for us, it’s about celebrating the small wins, the success that comes with that, and just trying to keep things really simple. One team change today. Anushka is unfortunately out with an injury, and Ayushi makes her debut today.