Matthews in for Sciver-Brunt as Mumbai Indians bowl; Anushka out injured for Giants

Mumbai Indians opt to bowl vs Gujarat Giants

Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and chose to bowl against Gujarat Giants in Navi Mumbai, saying "chasing is always a better option especially in the night games".

Hayley Matthews, who missed the first two games for MI with a shoulder injury, returned to the MI XI in place of Nat Sciver-Brunt, who Harmanpreet said was "unwell". Matthews is expected to open alongside G Kamalini, with Amelia Kerr, who filled in as opener in her absence, set to bat at No. 3.

For Giants, Anushka Sharma, who made an impression with a fluent 44 on her WPL debut against UP Warriorz on Saturday, missed out with an injury. She was seen wearing strapping on her right hand ahead of the match. Allrounder Ayushi Soni replaced her in the XI.

Giants have had a strong start to the season, winning both their matches so far. They opened with a victory over Warriorz before edging past Delhi Capitals in a thriller, leaving them second on the points table. MI have won one of their two games so far.

MI, however, hold a dominant record over Giants, having won all seven encounters between the two sides in the WPL.

During the pitch report, WV Raman said the surface was expected to be good for batting, adding that the shorter boundaries could make life difficult for the spinners.

Mumbai Indians XI: 1 G Kamalini (wk), 2 Hayley Matthews, 3 Amelia Kerr, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Nicola Carey, 6 Sajeevan Sajana, 7 Amanjot Kaur, 8 Poonam Khemnar, 9 Shabnim Ismail, 10 Sanskriti Gupta, 11 Triveni Vasistha

Gujarat Giants XI: 1 Beth Mooney (wk), 2 Sophie Devine, 3 Ayushi Soni, 4 Ashleigh Gardner (capt), 5 Georgia Wareham 6 Bharti Fulmali, 7 Kashvee Gautam, 8 Kanika Ahuja, 9 Tanuja Kanwar, 10 Rajeshwari Gayakwad, 11 Renuka Singh