England’s Issy Wong took the first Women’s Premier League hat-trick as the Mumbai Indians secured a dominant 72-run victory against UP Warriorz in the tournament’s eliminator.
Her Mumbai and England teammate Nat Sciver-Brunt posted 72 not out off 38 balls in the first innings as Mumbai finished with a huge total of 182 for four. Wong then starred with the ball, finishing with figures of four for 15. The 20-year-old removed the Australia batter Alyssa Healy in her opening over before making history with her third.
Kiran Navgire hit Wong’s second delivery of the 13th over straight to Sciver-Brunt, who made a clean catch on the deep-midwicket boundary. Wong then bowled Simran Shaikh and her England teammate Sophie Ecclestone in successive deliveries to complete her feat and help Mumbai reach the final.
“It’s all still a bit surreal, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind for the last couple of weeks,” Wong said. “I was just trying to hit the stumps [for the hat-trick ball]. Sophie said well bowled, she is a good friend and she is a quality cricketer as well. It’s a bit more exciting as you know each other well.
“You don’t enter competitions to make the semi-finals, you enter them to be competitive and try to win it.”
Wong was the WPL’s second most expensive signing at £30,000 after the India batter Smriti Mandhana.