Mumbai Indians dished out an all-round show as they sauntered to an eight-wicket win over UP Warriorz to record their fourth straight win in the Women's Premier League (WPL) here on Sunday. (Pic Courtesy: wplt20)
Updated On: 2023-03-12 11:57 PM IST
Compiled by : Srijanee Majumdar
Yastika Bhatia took the initiative of scoring at the top, contributing heavily in her 58-run stand for the opening wicket with Hayley Matthews (12). After a flurry of boundaries in the powerplay, Bhatia sent the ball flying over long-on off Rajeshwari Gayakwad in the seventh over. But on the next ball, she played straight to Simran Sheikh at deep midwicket, perishing for 42 off 27 balls with eight fours and a six.
Even though UP Warriorz formed vital partnerships in the middle, at no stage did they really launch an all-out attack against the Mumbai bowlers, who for the first time in four matches were pushed on the backfoot.
Both Harmanpreet and Sciver-Brunt had luck on their side in the 11th over as they looked to rebuild. Anjali Sarvani bowled Harmanpreet around the legs, but the bails did not come off, and Sciver-Brunt did well to make the crease just in time to survive a direct hit from Sheikh at cover.
Ishaque gave away 10 boundaries in her four-over spell, but she broke through at the top, dismissing Devika Vaidya early in the powerplay. She returned for her last in the 17th over, removing Healy and McGrath from the equation within one over to pull things back in Mumbai's control. She took her wickets tally to 12 in just four WPL games so far, cementing her position as Mumbai Indians' go-to bowler when in need of breakthroughs.
There was drama in the fifth over when Sophie Ecclestone trapped Matthews leg-before and UP Warriorz were forced to take a DRS appeal successfully. The batter had a word with the umpire and the bowler, as it turned out that a different delivery was shown on the review. Matthews' surprisingly slow innings, however, ended at 12 off 17 balls when she gave a simple return catch to Ecclestone.
(With PTI inputs)