WPL 2023: Mumbai Indians' Hayley Matthews hits historic 1st six of maiden WPL match; WATCH

Mumbai Indians' (MI) Hayley Matthews has entered the record books for smashing the historic first six of the maiden Women's Premier League (WPL) match. Hayley achieved the feat in the second over of the match against Gujarat Giants. She played a pick-up shot behind square on a back-of-a-length delivery around off from Gujarat Giants' Mansi Joshi. Hayley smashed a boundary off the very next delivery after a misfield in the deep. With this, Hayley became the player to hit both the first six and four of the maiden WPL.   

First-ever six of WPL comes from Hayley Matthews! pic.twitter.com/WvuE8Dhrg6

— Cricket Junkie (@JunkieCricket) March 4, 2023

The first match of the competition is taking place between Gujarat Giants and Mumbai Indians at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Beth Mooney of Gujarat Giants won the toss and was elected to field first. Yastika Bhatia and Hayley Matthews opened the batting for Mumbai Indians. Ash Gardner took the new ball for Gujarat Giants. Bhatia was dismissed in the third over by Tanuja Kanwar for 1 off 8 balls. Matthews forged a crucial partnership with England's Nat Sciver-Brunt to set a solid base for MI before captain Harmanpreet Kaur took over. Kaur even smashed the first-ever half-century of WPL. 

MI captain Harmanpreet Kaur said at the toss, "It's a special day for all of us, want to enjoy this moment. This is a good wicket to bat on, but there will be something in it for the bowlers as well.

"We have some young players who'll be featuring today and we're looking forward to seeing how they play." Once the dancing and singing were done, BCCI president Roger Binny, secretary Jay Shah, and a host of other board officials were called up on the stage.

"Absolutely thrilled to be part of (WPL), a big crowd and I'm loving it. We have an entertaining group, we speak a lot about cricket. We have had the experience of playing in front of a big ground, we can pass it on to the younger members," Giants' captain Beth Mooney said.

Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians: Playing XIs

Gujarat Giants: Beth Mooney (capt, wk), S Meghana, Harleen Deol, Ashleigh Gardner, Annabel Sutherland, D Hemalatha, Georgia Wareham, Sneh Rana, Tanuja Kanwar, Monica Patel, Mansi Joshi.

Mumbai Indians: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Yastika Bhatia, Natalie Sciver-Brunt, Hayley Mathews, Pooja Vastrakar, Issy Wong, Humaira Kaazi, Amelia Kerr, Amanjot Kaur, Jintimani Kalita, Saika Ishaque.

Image: JioCinema