Star White Ferns allrounder Amelia Kerr has delivered with both bat and ball to steer her Mumbai Indians' WPL side to victory on Wednesday morning (NZ time).
Kerr spun her way to three wickets in her first three overs against Royal Challengers Bangalore and would have had a fourth, if a straightforward opportunity at long-on in her final over hadn't gone to ground.
Varying her pace and flight expertly, she snared the key wicket of Heather Knight for just 12 and also providing the throw to run out her White Ferns teammate and captain Sophie Devine for a duck.
Kerr eventually finished with match-best figures of 3/22 from her allotted four overs to restrict Royal Challengers to just 125/9.
After the Indians stumbled to 73/4 in their chase, Kerr strode to the middle to provide the steadying hand her team needed, top-scoring with an unbeaten 31 off 27 balls to seal a four-wicket win in the 17th over.
The 22-year-old was named player of the match, putting her performance down to some careful pre-match planning.
"When I first got here I was thinking, 'ten an over is a good day'. So the pitches are slowing up a little bit and getting some more turn," Kerr said after the game
"But some world-class batters are batting in this competition on pretty good wickets with short boundaries and they can hit the ball a long way.
"It's about trying to deny that and going along the tournament I have worked out different plans that give me the best option to be successful."
The result means Mumbai finish second in the competition standings, with six wins and two losses through their eight games.
They'll face UP Warriorz on Saturday morning in a playoff to decide who advances to take on Delhi Capitals in Monday's final.
