MI vs UPW, WPL 2023: Mumbai Indians suffer first defeat of season as UP Warriorz clinch low-scoring thriller | Cricket News

NEW DELHI: Mumbai Indians’ five-game unbeaten streak ended in disheartening fashion as UP Warrior lined Harmanpreet Kaur and co. by 5 wickets in a low score Women’s Premier League match at Navi Mumbai on Saturday.
The loss was Mumbai’s first of the season as Warriorz, led by Alyssa Healy, picked up their third win to stay strongly in knockout contention.
It was the first afternoon game of the season at DY Patil Stadium and a full-spin Warriorz emerged on a surface where the ball was spinning a lot and also holding on.
A total of 18 of the 20 overs were played by UP spinners — a WPL record – and it helped them group Mumbai for 127.

England left-arm star Sophie Ecclestone (3/15) led the way with her excellent bowling and was well helped by Rajeshwari Gayakwad and the all-rounder Deepti Sharma.
In response, UPW faced a few hurdles before competing with 3 balls to spare.

Grace Harris (39) and Tahlia McGrath (38) were the main contributors with bat for UPW, while Deepti Sharma (13 not out) and player of the match Ecclestone (16 not out) also played vital shots.
UPW lost Devika Vaidya with a single point on the board early in the second. While the hit bowler was Hayley Matthews, most of the credit for the dismissal must go to Harmanpreet Kaur, who landed a sensational first-slip catch after the batter landed a thick outside edge.
Issy Wong picked up the big wicket from UPW captain Alyssa Healy (8), trapping her in front of the wicket. The on-field referee was unconvinced despite the huge appeal and MI’s decision to ask for a referral turned out to be the right decision, leaving the Aussie star no choice but to return to the canoe.
Defending a small but tricky total on this surface, MI found another reason to celebrate when Yastika Bhatia pulled off a fantastic one-handed diving catch behind Nat Sciver-Brunt’s bowling wicket to dismiss Kiran Navgire for 12, for which she consumed 16 bullets.
UPW was in trouble at 27 for 3 early in the seventh, when Grace Harris left the mark with a boundary.
Even though MI quickly recovered three wickets, they were also guilty of dropping three strikes, which proved crucial in the end.

Along with Harris, Tahlia McGrath battled her way to a 38-25 before Amelia Kerr had her catch and bowl. But Harris hit back-to-back three-fours after McGrath was fired to close the gap.
There was another twist after Kerr fired Harris at a crucial time, but UPW held their nerve to come out on top.
Earlier, if not for Issy Wong’s 19-ball 32, MI would have finished with far less than they eventually got.
After their skipper Alyssa Healy opted to play first, the UP Warriorz bowlers did a commendable job of keeping things tight and taking wickets at regular intervals against Mumbai’s strong batting team.
MI were 56 for two at the end of the 10th with Hayley Matthews (35) and captain Harmanpreet Kaur (25) looking to build a partnership after the departure of Yastika Bhatia (5) and Nat Sciver-Brunt (7).
However, Hayley and Kaur went out after starting, with the India captain falling to compatriot Deepti Sharma after the former was knocked out by veteran Ecclestone.
Amelia Kerr (3) lasted just five balls before being fired by Rajeshwari Gayakwad as the Warriorz downed the Mumbai Indians to 78 for five early in the 14th.
Amanjot Kaur, too, failed to make an impression with the bat as she also fell to the crafty Ecclestone, who had picked up three wickets by as many at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy by then.
While Ecclestone did most of the damage, the others supported her well and made MI work hard for every run. Indian player Gayakwad also had a strong outing, coming back with a fine two-for-16 over her full quota of four overs.
Deepti finished with numbers of 2/34.
While MI fielded the same XI in the match, UP decided to include youngster Parshavi Chopra in place of Shweta Sehrawat.
(With PTI entries)

malek

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