WPL Match 15, Mumbai Indians vs UP Warriorz – Talking Points and Who Said What?

Grace Harris and Deepti Sharma. (Photo Source: Twitter/WPL)

The 15th match of the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 saw Mumbai Indians take on UP Warriorz at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai. Mumbai Indians came into the game unbeaten, whereas, UP Warriorz last suffered a loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore before taking on the table toppers.

Mumbai Indians looked helpless for the first time in the competition under a relentless bowling attack by UPW. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led MI were bundled out for 127 as Up’s Sophie Ecclestone wreaked havoc by claiming three wickets while giving away just 15 runs.

Chasing 128, UP clinched a resounding win as Tahlia McGrath and Grace Harris scored 38 and 39 respectively, to help Warriorz cruise past Mumbai. Following MI’s first loss of the tournament, let us have a look at the talking points of the match and who said what.

Here are the talking points from the match between Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz:

Sophie Ecclestone’s class:

Ecclestone came into the game breathing fire, giving no chance to the MI batters. In the four overs she bowled, Ecclestone took three wickets and conceded just 15 runs and kept mounting pressure on a MI side that looked helpless for the first time in the tournament.

Deepti Sharma’s heroics:

Deepti Sharma came into the game with a clear intent of making the day hers as the star Indian all-rounder took two wickets in the four overs she bowled. Furthermore, she also played an unbeaten knock of 13 runs to guide her side to a fabulous victory, thus handing MI their first loss.

MI’s first loss:

After five back-to-back wins in the 2023 WPL, Mumbai Indians have finally tasted defeat at the hands of Alyssa Healy-led UP Warriorz. Despite having qualified for the playoffs of the tournament, UPW certainly gave Harmanpreet Kaur something to ponder over ahead of the coming matches.

Winning skipper Alyssa Healy said:

It was close, credit to the girls for hanging in there and getting it done. You got to find some momentum going towards the end of the tournament, so happy on that count. Not too sure if the toss was crucial. Really proud of our spinners. If the wickets keep deteriorating as they are then we have a good chance.

Player of the Match Deepti Sharma said:

I knew that Sophie was with me and that we could hit boundaries. We were confident that we would take it to the end and finish the game. The pitch was slightly better than in the first innings. It was skidding a little bit more. The early few overs were difficult. We executed our plans well with the bat. The bowling unit did very nicely and Harris also played a crucial role to get us back in the game. (On preparation for the game) We were just talking about how to concentrate on the positives and to play as a unit. I wanted to take the team past the finish line to ensure that we remain in the top three.