Harmanpreet Kaur and Hayley Matthews led the way with the bat as the Mumbai Indians hammered the Gujarat Giants by 143 runs at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai to kick off the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League on Saturday.

Mumbai made an imposing 207-5 from their 20 overs after being put in to bat by the Giants.

Kaur, captain of the Mumbai Indians as well as India, led the way with a classy 65 off just 30 balls including 14 fours while Matthews, the West Indies skipper, hit four sixes and three fours on her way to a 31-ball 47 at the top of the innings.

New Zealander Amelia Kerr also hit a 24-ball 45 not out including six fours and a six. The Gujarat bowling was led by the off-spin of Sneh Rana who took 2-43 from her four overs.

Needing 208 for victory, the Giants’ task was made even harder when captain Beth Mooney was forced to retire hurt after facing just three balls and not scoring a run.

In the end, only Dayalan Hemalatha (29*) and Monica Patel (10) reached double figures as they were restricted to 64-9 off 15.1 overs.

Saika Ishaque led the way with the ball for Mumbai with 4-11 from her 3.1 overs while Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amelia Kerr took two wickets apiece.

Scores: Mumbai Indians 207-5 off 20 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 65, Hayley Matthews 47, Amelia Kerr 45*, Sneh Rana 2-43) Gujarat Giants 64-9 off 15.1 overs (Dayalan Hemalatha 29*, Saika Ishaque 4-11, Nat Sciver-Brunt 2-5, Amelia Kerr 2-12).

West Indies Women and New Zealand head into Sunday’s T20 International locked on 1-1 after the visitors pulled off a thriller to win the second T20 International by six wickets, with one ball remaining, at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Saturday.

Batting first, the West Indies had a difficult time scoring going as New Zealand bowlers were much more consistent in their line and length.

Skipper Hayley Matthews struck one boundary on her way to eight off 13 balls before she had a big nick behind to keeper Izzy Gaze of Hayley Jensen. Also, Aaliyah Alleyne, who punished the White Ferns bowlers in the first match, struggled to get going.

Eden Carson who replaced Lea Tahuhu in the White Ferns team, had Alleyne caught for 13 which came off 19 balls.

Kyshona Knight and Chinelle Henry struck up a 31-run partnership when the home side needed it the most. Knight fell eight runs short of a half-century, making 42, which included five fours.

Henry, meanwhile, made 24 off 22 balls with two fours and a six and included 18 runs from the last over which helped West Indies Women to 107-5.

Jensen was the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand, finishing with figures of 4-0-24-3, followed by Eden Carson with 4-0-12-2.

In reply, Suzie Bates smacked six fours on her way to 54 off 61 balls and was well supported by Amelia Kerr with 21 from 25 balls. The visitors looked set for victory before two wickets from Cherry-Ann Fraser in the 18th over, swung the match back in favour of the West Indies.

However, the 19th over went for 10 runs which meant New Zealand needed seven runs in the last over, which they achieved with one ball to spare.

Fraser had the best bowling figures, finishing with 2.5-0-13-1. Off-spinner Karishma Ramharack 4-0-23-1.

“I got a promotion to bat at (number) three, so my role was to bat as deep as possible,” Knight explained afterwards.

“My plan was to back myself and to rotate the strike for the hitters and help get the team to a decent total. It was extremely hot there today, probably one of the hottest we’ve experienced so far, and the ball was holding on the pitch more than usual, so that made batting a bit tricky. We’re looking forward to regrouping and coming back for the third match.”

The two teams will return to the same venue on Sunday for the third T20I in the five-match series. The first ball is at 1:30 pm Eastern Caribbean/12:30 pm Jamaica time.