Grace Harris, Harmanpreet Kaur and Shafali Verma. (Photo Source: Twitter)
The first week of the maiden season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) ended on Friday after the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and UP Warriorz (UPW), which went in the latter’s favour by 10 wickets. Eight matches were played in the competition’s first week and Mumbai Indians (MI) finished on top of the table with three wins out of all three games. On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), who played four matches in the firts week, continue to struggle to rack up points on the table.
On March 4, the inaugural edition of the league kicked off with a contest between MI and Gujarat Giants. In the opening game, the former outclassed the latter in all departments and clinched a massive victory of 143 runs. In the game, the extraordinary efforts of MI batters emboldened the team’s bowlers to vanquish the opponents. After that game, WPL fans witnessed a lot of games wherein batters powered their teams with their solid knocks.
On that note, here are the top seven batting displays of the first week of the WPL
7. Grace Harris’s 59* vs Gujarat Giants
Grace Harris. (Photo Source: Twitter/WPL)
After facing a humiliating defeat at the hands of MI in the opening game, GG were looking to open their account in the tournament with a win against UPW in the second match. Riding on Harleen Deol’s fine knock of 46 runs off 32 deliveries, GG posted a decent total of 169/6. Along with Deol, Dayalan Hemalatha also chipped in with her rapid knock of 21* that came off just 13 deliveries.
Chasing 170, UPW’s batting line-up was crushed as Kim Garth dismissed skipper Alyssa Healy, Shweta Sehrawat, and Tahlia McGrath in her second over. With the help of a 66-run stand between Kiran Navgire and Deepti Sharma, UPW stood at 86/4 after 12 overs. Things went worse for the Warriorz as Navgire departed after notching crucial 53 off 43.
Just like the top-order batters, Simran Shaikh and Devika Vaidya also went back to the pavilion scoring 0 and 4 apiece. However, Australia’s Grace Harris, who enjoys the reputation of a hard-hitter, played some exquisite strokes and dominated GG bowlers. With her unbeaten 59 runs off 26 deliveries, the 29-year-old took her team home with three wickets in hand and a ball to spare. Harris also got the support of Sophie Ecclestone’s fierce innings (22* off 12 deliveries) to win the game.
6. Harmanpreet Kaur’s 65 vs Gujarat Giants
Harmanpreet Kaur (Photo Source: Twitter)
In the first match of the WPL, MI and GG were looking forward to starting their campaign with a victory. Winning the toss, GG skipper Beth Mooney invited MI to bat first. In the third over of the match, MI lost Yastika Bhatia cheaply as the opener could contribute only 1 run to her team in eight deliveries. With the solid batting of Hayley Matthews and Nat Sciver-Brunt, MI came back into the match, but in 10 overs the loss of both batters pushed the team again into a perilous situation.
Taking the matter into her hands, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur led from the front and took her team to a commanding position in the game. Along with youngster Amelia Kerr, she stitched a huge partnership of 89 runs. The veteran’s innings ended on the last delivery of the 17th over as she was removed on 65(30) by Sneh Rana.
Her swift innings was studded with 14 fours and helped her team to post a mammoth target of 208 runs to the opponents. During her innings, she also achieved the feat of hitting seven consecutive fours. Her ferocious knock boosted the confidence of her bowlers as they folded GG on 64 runs.
5. Sophia Dunkley’s 65 vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
Sophia Dunkley. (Photo Source: Twitter/WPL)
After losing to MI and UPW in their first two games, GG were desperately hunting for a win in the tournament. Against the underconfident RCB, GG saw a chance to be superior in the match. Like their previous game against UPW, skipper Sneh Rana won the toss and elected to bat first.
Starting the innings for GG, Sabbhineni Meghana and Sophia Dunkley could build a 22-run partnership only as the former departed on 8. However, after Meghana’s removal, Sophia Dunkley came hard on RCB bowlers along with Harleen Deol. Believing in her batting skills, Dunkley hit a fearless half-century and finished with 65 runs off 28 deliveries.
She brought her half-century in just 18 deliveries and became the batter to notch up the fastest fifty in the tournament. Her spunky contribution powered GG to go past 200 for the first time in the competition. In the end, RCB fell 11 runs short of GG’s colossal total of 201 runs.
4. Meg Lanning’s 70 vs UP Warriorz
Meg Lanning. (Photo Source: Twitter/WPL)
In the fifth match of the WPL, Delhi Capitals (DC) vs UPW locked horns with each other after winning their first games. Alyssa Healy, the skipper of UPW, won the toss and elected to bowl first. However, her decision backfired as both DC captain Meg Lanning and her opening partner Shafali Verma provided an ideal start to their team.
Verma got dismissed on 17 runs off 14 deliveries and following the opener’s removal, Marizanne Kapp also went back to the pavilion scoring 16 runs off 12 deliveries. However, despite the fall of both wickets, Lanning didn’t stop her natural game and continued her power-hitting against UPW bowlers.
She ended her innings scoring 70 runs with the help of 10 fours and three maximums in 42 deliveries, at a mind-boggling strike rate of 166.67. Thanks to her magnificent batting show, DC compiled 211 runs on the board and thumped UPW by 42 runs. This was also her second half-century in the tournament as she played a similar knock for her team against RCB in the second match of the competition.
3. Shafali Verma’s 84 against Royal Challengers Bangalore
Shafali verma. (Photo Source: Twitter/WPL)
Shafali Verma is known for her ferocious batting style and in her team’s 60-run win against RCB, she displayed it with her amazing knock. Coming out to bat with her skipper and opening partner Meg Lanning, she made RCB skipper Smriti Mandhana regret her decision to bowl first after winning the toss.
Along with Lanning, Verma also fired and delivered a great start to her team in the WPL. With her captain, she had a partnership of 162 runs that came off 87 deliveries. After the Aussie batter’s wicket, Verma also returned to the pavilion after a gap of two deliveries in the same over falling to Heather Knight.
With her aggressive batting approach, she trudged back to the pavilion scoring 84 off 45, with 10 fours and four sixes, at a jaw-dropping strike rate of 186.67. The youngster’s superb innings helped Marizanne Kapp and Jemimah Rodrigues to play attacking shots and rack up 39 (17) and 22 (15) respectively to end the innings.
2. Tahlia McGrath’s 90 vs Delhi Capitals
Tahlia McGrath. (Photo Source: Twitter/WPL)
With skipper Meg Lanning’s courageous knock of 70 runs (42 deliveries) and Jess Jonassen’s 3/43 spell, DC vanquished UPW comfortably by 42 runs in the fifth match of the WPL. However, the match will reside in the minds of the UPW fans due to a swashbuckling batting performance of Tahlia McGrath.
Facing the batting collapse, UPW’s defeat looked certain in the game but McGrath, who has delivered a lot of match-winning innings to her national side Australia, strived to take the game close for her WPL team as well. Relying on her aggressive batting attitude, McGrath played an unbeaten knock of 90 runs that came off just 50 deliveries.
However, her excellent batting effort couldn’t bring joy to the fans of UPW as the team eventually faced a defeat at the hands of the opponents. The team was also criticised for dropping their previous match’s winner Grace Harris from the combination.
1. Alyssa Healy’s 96* vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
Alyssa Healy. (Photo Source: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)
In the first week of the WPL, the best knock came from the bat of Alyssa Healy, UP Warriorz’s skipper. Playing the match against RCB, she showcased her batting skills with a match-winning knock for her team. After her team’s loss at the hands of DC in the previous match, the contest against RCB became important.
With the brilliant bowling displays, the Warriorz wrapped up RCB’s innings on 138. After the incredible performance from bowlers, batters had the opportunity to turn up against the demoralised RCB and seal a giant victory for their team.
Following the below-par total of 139, the captain grabbed the chance and smashed an unbeaten 96 runs. Her massive innings came off mere 47 deliveries with the help of 18 fours and a six. The veteran’s brisk knock also gave a boost to Warriorz’s net run rate as she concluded the game for her team with seven overs to spare.