UP Warriorz have handed Mumbai Indians their first defeat in Women’s Premier League 2023. The Alyssa Healy-led side did so in style by winning their face off against the table toppers at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai in the first match of the WPL double-header on Saturday.
After winning the toss and choosing to bowl first, UP first restricted the star-studded Mumbai lineup to 127 before chasing down their target with 3 balls to spare. Sophie Ecclestone was the pick of the bowlers for the winning team as she finished with figures of 3 for 15 before returning to make a crucial contribution with the bat (16* off 17) to help her side clinch a thriller, finishing the match with a six.
For Mumbai Indians, Hayley Matthews top-scored with 35 off 30 deliveries while Issy Wong’s 32 off 19 and Harmanpreet Kaur’s 25 off 22 were also notable contributions. However, none of the other players could step in with the bat. As far as their bowling effort is concerned, Amelia Kerr was their star performer with figures of 2 for 22, Wong, Matthews and Nat Sciver-Brunt were the other wicket-takers.
In the run chase, Warriorz’ top-three batters couldn’t do much with Devika Vaidya, Healy and Kiran Navgire falling for individual scores of 1, 8 and 12 respectively. However, making use of her dropped catch first ball Tahlia McGrath scored 38 off 25 while Grace Harris scored 39 off 28 deliveries.
In the end it was Deepti Sharma and Ecclsetone who saw the team cross the line. This was UP’s third win in the season which has taken them to 6 points from as many matches.
Meanwhile, this was the first loss for Mumbai Indians but does not affect their qualification chances that much as they have already sealed a place in the next round. They continue to remain at the top of table.
Deepti Sharma was adjudged the Player of the Match for her all-round performance as she picked 2 wickets for 35 runs, 2 run outs and a match-winning partnership with Ecclestone, finishing unbeatean on 13.
