Matthews soon got to her 35-ball fifty – her first of this WPL – and the dominating partnership ended only when Bell returned and rattled Matthews’ stumps after the ball ricocheted off both pads. Harmanpreet Kaur lasted 12 balls for 20 runs before holing out to long-off, and Sciver-Brunt ended the 19th over by carving a wide yorker for four to move to 99, the highest individual score in the WPL until Monday.

She went past the barrier after holding the record for the most runs (8,883) and fifties (57) without a hundred in women’s T20s, across 348 innings. Shreyanka bowled a tidy last over for just five runs, keeping MI just short of 200.

After she missed the first few games with a shoulder niggle and then struggled for rhythm with both bat and ball, Matthews turned the tide against the best side of this WPL. Her offspin match-up worked instantly against Smriti Mandhana, who top-edged to backward square leg for 6, not long after Grace Harris had edged Shabnim Ismail behind. No. 3 Georgia Voll also handed a catch to the wicketkeeper when Matthews erred with her line down leg and Rahila Firdous took a sharp catch off the bottom edge.

Two balls later, Ismail hit the stumps off an almost-frozen Gautami Naik to reduce RCB to 31 for 4, which soon became 35 for 5 in the last over of the powerplay when Radha Yadav found long-on off Matthews.

Ghosh was the only bright spot for RCB, who had been bundled out for their lowest WPL score in their previous match. She made the most of getting two lives: the first was a tough chance for the keeper off a spinner, while the second was a sitter for Matthews, who put down a skier running in from long-off and covered her mouth in disbelief.

Ghosh also lost de Klerk in the 12th over but started to hit out even as RCB needed 120 from 48 with six wickets down. She dispatched anything with width or length and went after anyone who came her way. The big charge came in the 16th over when she clobbered three consecutive fours off Amelia Kerr. Amanjot Kaur fought back with a wicket in a six-run over next, but she was at the receiving end of a stunning assault in the 19th.

RCB needed 59 from 12, and Ghosh went 6, 6 and 6, starting by putting away a full toss before relying on brute force. When she managed only a single on the fourth ball, Shreyanka carved two fours to keep RCB in the game, with 32 needed from six.

Ghosh started the final over with a four, but Kerr bowled a dot next that virtually sealed MI’s victory unless there was an illegal delivery. Ghosh, however, executed an unbelievable six off the next ball when Kerr looped it well outside off; Ghosh came down the track, reached out, and sent it sailing over the covers before ending up flat on the ground. She miscued the last ball of the game and was finally caught, as MI breathed a sigh of relief.

Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians Women 199 for 4 in 20 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 100*, Hayley Matthews 56, Harmanpreet Kaur 20; Lauren Bell 2-21, Nadine de Klerk 1-40, Shreyanka Patil 1-34) beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women  184 for 9 in 20 overs (Grace Harris 15, Richa Ghosh 90, Nadine de Klerk 2, Arundhati Reddy 14, Shreyanka Patil 12*; Shabnim Ismail 2-25, Hayley Matthews 3-10, Amanjot Kaur 1-51, Amelia Kerr 2-37) by 15 runs

[Cricinfo]