WPL 2024: Navgire's heroics guide UP Warriorz past Mumbai Indians
UP Warriorz completed a brilliant run chase against Mumbai Indians in match number six of the 2024 Women's Premier League on Wednesday in Bengaluru. MI posted a competitive total of 161/6 in their allotted 20 overs but the UPW batters were at their dominant best as they chased the target down in 16.3 overs, registering a seven-wicket victory. Here are the key stats.
Mumbai Indians powered their way to 161/6
MI had a steady start as Hayley Matthews and Yastika Bhatia added 50 runs together for the first wicket. Matthews continued her onslaught by stitching a 42-run partnership with Natalia Sciver-Brunt. Later, contributions from Amelia Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar and Issy Wong guided MI to a total of 161/7. Grace Harris starred for UPW with 1/20 in her four overs.
Hayley Matthews scores her second WPL fifty
Matthews started slowly but once she got her eye in she found the gaps and played some beautiful shots. She slammed a 55, studded with nine fours and a solitary six. Matthews has amassed 333 runs from 13 WPL matches at an average above 25.
A look at the UPW bowlers
Interestingly, all five of the UPW bowlers returned with wickets from their four overs. However, Harris was the pick of the bowlers as she returned with 1/20 from her four overs. Sophie Ecclestone also picked up 1/25 from her quota of overs. Anjali Sarvani, Deepti Sharma and Rajeshwari Gayakwad were taken to the cleaners with figures of 1/38, 1/40 and 1/38 respectively.
UP Warriorz completed a historic chase
UP Warriorz took up the challenge as Kiran Navgire and Alyssa Healy added 94 runs which also saw the former hammer a brisk fifty. They lost a couple of wickets in between but another brilliant 65*-run partnership between Harris and Deepti powered UP Warrioz home in 16.3 overs. MI bowlers had an off day as Wong starred with 2/30 from her three overs.
A match-winning hand from Navgire
Navgire was at her destructive best from the outset as she stitched up a brilliant 94-run stand with Healy. The dasher hammered a 31-ball 57, a knock laced with six boundaries and four maximums. This is her second WPL fifty as she also compiled 200-plus runs in the tournament. As per Cricket.com, this was the fastest WPL fifty against MI.
An off day for MI bowlers
Only Wong and Kerr were successful bowlers for MI tonight. Wong returned with 2/30 while Kerr picked up 1/34. Others like Sciver-Brunt, Saika Ishaque, Matthews and Vastrakar went for runs and returned with no wickets.
Do you know?
The 94-run partnership between Navgire and Healy was only the second 50-plus runs stand by an opening pair in the WPL against MI. Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma were the only other opening pair to achieve this feat against MI (56).
Joint-fifth fastest WPL fifty
As per Rhitankar Bandyopadhyay, Navgire's 25-ball fifty is the joint-fifth fastest fifty in the WPL. She is tied with Harris, who a slammed a 25-ball fifty last season. Notably, this is the third-fastest WPL fifty by an Indian batter. She is only behind Shafali's 19-ball fifty against GG and Harmanpreet Kaur's 22-ball half-century also against GG. Sophia Dunkley owns the fastest fifty (18 balls).
