Sajeevan Sajana, playing her first-ever Women’s Premier League match, smashed a last-ball six off Delhi Capitals’ Alice Capsey to seal a thrilling win for Mumbai Indians in the first match of WPL 2024.
The 29-year-old Sajana came out to face the last ball after Harmanpreet Kaurwas dismissed on the penultimate delivery, with five needed to win the match. Capsey, the hero of the first innings, had taken two wickets off the first five balls and conceded eight.
With five needed off the last ball, Sajana stepped out of the crease and smashed Capsey over the long-on fence, where a leaping fielder couldn’t intercept the ball. Mumbai won with four wickets to spare.
Earlier, Capsey headlined Capitals’ innings of 171-6 – top-scoring with 75 off 53 – ably supported by Jemimah Rodrigues (42 off 24). Their innings got out to a rocky start when Shabnim Ismail flattened Shafali Verma’s middle stump in just the third over.
In response to the Capitals, Mumbai lost Hayley Matthews off just the second ball, but Yastika Bhatia’s half-century kept them in the chase.
Sajana, who was recently seen in action during the Senior Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy, came out to bat when the Indians lost Pooja Vastrakar and Harmanpreet Kaur in the first five balls. With five needed off the last ball, she smashed the ball over long-on to spark jubilation in the Indians camp.
𝙐𝙉𝘽𝙀𝙇𝙄𝙀𝙑𝘼𝘽𝙇𝙀!
5 off 1 needed and S Sajana seals the game with a MAXIMUM very first ball🤯💥
A final-over thriller in the very first game of #TATAWPL Season 1 🤩🔥
Scorecard 💻📱 https://t.co/GYk8lnVpA8#TATAWPL | #MIvDC pic.twitter.com/Lb6WUzeya0
— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) February 23, 2024