WPL: UPW, MI face off for second time in three days
Having finally got the monkey off their backs with the season’s first win in their fourth attempt, UP Warriorz will enter the Women’s Premier League match against Mumbai Indians with a spring in their step here Saturday.
Winless in the first three outings, the Warriorz opened their account on Thursday, beating defending champions Mumbai Indians by seven wickets, and they are set to face each other for the second time in three days.
The Warriorz though still need to figure out their batting order with opener Kiran Navgire falling for a low score for the fourth time in as many outings. Head coach Abhishek Nayar and skipper Meg Lanning could now be exploring the option of promoting Phoebe Litchfield to open the innings, or try out someone like Shweta Sehrawat at the top of the order while asking Navgire to play in the middle-order or as a finisher.
Playing a statement innings (64 off 39 balls) barely 24 hours after she had been retired out, Harleen Deol will have momentum on her side, and she will look to continue in the same vein against a formidable outfit that will be keen to exact revenge on their opponents. Speaking about Harleen’s approach and growth, Nayar said: “For Harleen, it has always been about the team first and herself second, and that belief has stayed strong within this group.
“I’ve always encouraged her to see herself as both a touch and power player, because my mindset is to push Indian cricketers to the next level. She’s now the second Indian batter after Harmanpreet to score a fifty this season, and that’s exactly what we wanted to see.”
Runs from the blades of Harleen and Chloe Tryon, who closed out the match against MI in quick time with a flurry of big hits, must have pleased the legendary Lanning, who will herself hope for a better outing after a slow start on Thursday. With world class players such as Deepti Sharma, Sophie Ecclestone, Harleen, and Litchfield in their ranks, there is no reason why UPW can’t make a deeper run in the tournament.
MI, meanwhile, will look to regroup after their two-match winning streak was halted by the Warriorz. The MI bowlers were guilty of bowling wide and short in their last match, especially against Harleen, and were punished.
Returning to action after missing a game due to illness, Nat Sciver-Brunt shone with both bat and ball against UPW, and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur would want the two senior pros to lead their batting in the coming games.
Nicola Carey has also impressed with both bat and ball in the league so far, while Hayley Matthews is known for her big-hitting. Then, there are also Amelia Kerr and Shabnim Ismail bolstering the MI bowling.
The Teams:
Mumbai Indians: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Hayley Matthews, Amanjot Kaur, G. Kamalini, Amelia Kerr, Shabnim Ismail, Sanskriti Gupta, Sajana Sajeevan, Rahila Firdous, Nicola Carey, Poonam Khemnar, Triveni Vasistha, Nalla Reddy, Saika Ishaque, Milly Illingworth.
UP Warriorz: Meg Lanning (c), Harleen Deol, Deandra Dottin, Sophie Ecclestone, Kranti Gaud, Shipra Giri, Charli Knott, Phoebe Litchfield, Suman Meena, Kiran Navgire, Shikha Pandey, Pratika Rawal, Shweta Sehrawat, Deepti Sharma, Simran Shaikh, Asha Sobhana, Gongadi Trisha, Chloe Tryon.
