Navi Mumbai, Mar 24 (PTI) England pacer Isabelle Wong called it “a bit surreal” after recording the first hat-trick of the Women’s Premier League to fire Mumbai Indians into the final with a crushing 72-run win over UP Warriorz here on Friday.
Wong returned with incredible figures of 4-0-15-4 to bundle out UPW for 110 in their chase of a stiff 183-run target.
“It’s all a bit surreal, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind for the last couple of weeks. Put in a bit of hard yards for the last couple of years in the gym and rewarding to enjoy all of that,” the 20-year-old Wong said after the match.
“Under lights, it swung. The square allows you to keep the swing going even in the later stages of the innings. We knew if we look after the ball, then we can get it to swing.” After removing the dangerous Alyssa Healy (11) early and getting rid of an on-song Kiran Navgire (43), Wong cleaned up Simran Sheikh (0) and Sophie Ecclestone (0) to take a wicket each on the second, third and the fourth deliveries of her third over to produce a match-winning spell.
On her hat-trick ball, Wong said: “I was just trying to hit the stumps, Soph got the better of last time, I did not want to land in her spot.” Asked what was her interaction with Ecclestone after the dismissal, she said: “She said well bowled, she is a good friend and she is a quality cricketer as well. It’s a bit more exciting as you know each other well.” Winning captain Harmanpreet Kaur said MI have a decent bowling attack and so they were “confident anybody could take wickets.” On Wong’s hat-trick, Harmanpreet said: “She is always excited to bowl, she was always there and very happy. And she (Nat Sciver-Brunt) is someone who can take us through in any game, I am happy she did it today.
“We have quite a few young girls who are keen to do well in fielding as well. They have a positive energy, they are ready to do their job and listen to us, whenever we talk to them.” Nat Sciver-Brunt was adjudged the Player of the match for her breathtaking 38-ball 72.
Interesting, she was dropped by Ecclestone in the sixth over, off Gayakwad’s bowling when she tried to lift one over mid-off.
“It was very enjoyable bating out there, surprised myself with a few shots actually. I have said thank you (to Ecclestone) for dropping me. She would usually take those, luck of the draw fortunately.”
Source: PTI News
