Lucknow, March 6 Amelia Kerr’s stellar five-wicket haul (5-38) -- first for Mumbai Indians -- and Hayley Matthews’ disciplined spell (2-25) powered Mumbai Indians to restrict UP Warriorz to 150/9 in Match 16 of Women's Premier League (WPL) 2025 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium here on Thursday.
Despite a strong start from UPW openers adding 74, the highest opening partnership for Warriorz this season, Mumbai’s bowlers tightened their grip in the middle overs, triggering a collapse. Kerr’s variations proved particularly lethal, while Matthews provided crucial breakthroughs to ensure the hosts were kept in check. With 151 runs to chase, the Mumbai Indians will be eyeing a solid performance with the bat.
Winning the toss and opting to bat, Warriorz got off to a strong start with openers Grace Harris and Georgia Voll providing a promising start.
Facing Shabnim Ismail in the first over, Harris had an early scare with a thick outside edge falling in no-man’s land. Voll capitalised soon after, pulling a short delivery for four toward deep mid-wicket.
Nat Sciver-Brunt nearly sent Harris back in her opening over with a deceptive off-cutter that narrowly missed the bails. However, Harris capitalised, flicking a boundary past the inner circle. Voll, looking comfortable at the crease, played some elegant strokes, including well-placed cuts for boundaries off Ismail and Sciver-Brunt. Amanjot Kaur was introduced into the attack but proved expensive as both Harris and Voll found the boundary, propelling UP Warriorz to 50/0 at the end of the power-play.
Spin was introduced immediately after the power-play, with Parunika Sisodia taking charge. Harris continued her attacking approach, punishing Ismail for a misfield and pulling powerfully for another boundary. The momentum carried over into Amelia Kerr’s first over, where Voll struck three consecutive boundaries, including a lucky inside edge.
Hayley Matthews was then introduced, and the West Indian all-rounder struck almost immediately. Harris, looking to accelerate, lofted one down the ground, but Ismail misjudged the catch at long-on, allowing the ball to clear her for a six. However, Harris's aggression led to her downfall on the very next ball as she mistimed a pull shot to short fine leg, departing for 28 off 25 deliveries. Ismail returned for her second spell, and Voll neared her maiden WPL half-century with a crisp boundary. Kiran Navgire arrived at the crease but failed to make an impact, perishing for a duck as she chipped one to short third-man off Kerr’s bowling.
Voll, however, carried on her fine form and reached her maiden WPL fifty in style, stepping out to dispatch a full toss from Kerr for a boundary. But her innings came to an end when Sciver-Brunt bowled a clever slower delivery, which rattled the stumps as Voll attempted a scoop shot, departing for an impressive 55 off 33 balls.
Deepti Sharma and Vrinda Dinesh then took over the responsibility, with Vrinda flicking a ball fine for a boundary. The Mumbai Indians’ spinners tightened their grip as Sanskriti Gupta and Matthews delivered economical overs. Parunika returned for her second over, and Deepti managed to break the shackles with a well-timed sweep to the boundary.
Amelia Kerr, who had already made an impact, struck again in her third over as Vrinda Dinesh (10) attempted to clear long-on but found Shabnim Ismail, who made no mistake this time.
Chinelle Henry walked in with intent, smashing a six off her very first ball, but her aggressive approach backfired immediately as she mistimed another big hit, falling to Sajana Sajeevan at long off. The collapse deepened when Shweta Sehrawat, trying to counterattack, perished for a duck in a similar fashion, giving Matthews her second wicket.
With UPW reeling, Uma Chetry and Deepti Sharma tried to stabilise the innings, but scoring remained difficult. Parunika Sisodia bowled a tight over, eventually dismissing Uma, who holed out to Ismail at long-on. Matthews completed her spell (2-25) with another economical over, though Deepti managed to sweep her for a much-needed boundary. With the lower order exposed, the onus was on Deepti to push UP Warriorz towards a respectable total in the final few overs.
Amelia Kerr returned to close out the innings and struck immediately, stumping Deepti Sharma for 27 as she attempted to charge down the track. Ecclestone managed to find a boundary, but her resistance ended on the final delivery, caught by Amanjot Kaur. Kerr finished with a remarkable five-wicket haul (5-38), restricting UPW to 150/9 in their 20 overs, setting Mumbai Indians a target of 151.
Brief scores:
UP Warriorz 150/9 in 20 overs (Georgia Voll 55, Grace Harris 28; Amelia Kerr 5-38, Hayley Matthews 2-25) against Mumbai Indians.
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