Can MI halt the high-flying Giants and Devine?

How do you top a win like the one Gujarat Giants secured on Sunday in a thrilling contest against Delhi Capitals? The Giants had no business winning that clash heading into the final over when a marauding Laura Wolvaardt and Jemimah Rodrigues were at the crease needing just 7 more runs. The 12 balls prior to that had yielded 41 runs in astonishing fashion. However, Sophie Devine brought all her experience to the fore to dent Capitals and give the Giants their second win in as many games.

Devine was also the hero with the bat prior to that as she put on a never-seen-before display in the WPL by hammering 32 runs in an over. She was also on course to finally break the duck and register the tournament's first ever century before falling for 95.

The veteran was instrumental in her side's first win as well when she set the tone with a quickfire 38. So for Mumbai Indians to stop this batting line up from surpassing 200 for a third straight game, they will have to see the back of Devine quite early. And then there is also Ashleigh Gardner to contend with who has scores of 65 and 49 already this season.

Not to forget Beth Mooney who has had a quiet start to the season and can explode into form at any given moment. From a Mumbai Indians perspective, Nicola Carey, Amelia Kerr and Shabnim Ismail have made a good start to the tournament with the ball.

MI would have been pleased with their comeback against Capitals after squandering the opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Despite posting a modest total, MI were on track to win the clash before Nadine de Klerk denied them at the death. Their bowlers however staged a strong comeback barely 24 hours later to keep the star-studded Capitals top four quiet to deliver a dominant win. That contest between their bowlers and the Giants' batters adds to the intrigue in this clash.

When: Tuesday, January 13 at 7:30 pm local time

Where: Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai

What to expect: Clear skies are expected for the game and in all likelihood, another game full of runs.

Team News

Mumbai Indians

The defending champions will likely stick to their winning combination.

Predicted XI: Amelia Kerr, G Kamalini (wk), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Nicola Carey, Sajeevan Sajana, Amanjot Kaur, Poonam Khemnar, Triveni Vasistha, Shabnim Ismail, Sanskriti Gupta

Gujarat Giants

Yastika Bhatia has now been officially ruled out of the tournament. The high-flying Giants will see no reason to change their XI.

Predicted XI: Beth Mooney (wk), Sophie Devine, Anushka Sharma, Ashleigh Gardner (c), Georgia Wareham, Bharti Fulmali, Kanika Ahuja, Kashvee Gautam, Tanuja Kanwar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Singh Thakur