Putting in hard yards is paying off: Issy Wong

England international Issy Wong became the first bowler in the Women's Premier League (WPL) to take a hat-trick, achieving the feat during the eliminator against UP Warriorz at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai.

She finished with figures of 4 for 15 in her four overs to take Mumbai Indians (MI) to the final. MI will now take on Delhi Capitals (DC) in the final at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday (March 26).

Speaking of her performance in the match and in the tournament, Wong said, "It's all a bit surreal, it's been a bit of a whirlwind for the last couple of weeks. Put in a bit of hard yards for the last couple of years in the gym and rewarding to enjoy all of that. 

"Under lights, it swung. The square allows you to keep the swing going even in the later stages of the innings. We knew if we look after the ball, then we can get it to swing."

Warriorz skipper Alyssa Healy rues the fact they did not take the opportunity to dismiss Nat Sciver-Brunt when she was batting on single digits. She was dropped by her international teammate in the last over of the powerplay.

"We catch Sciver on 6, the game could be ours. We backed ourselves with ball in hand. Our strength in this whole tournament has been we've hung in there," Healy said reflecting on the match. 

"We haven't played our best cricket. I'm really proud of this group. No one was talking about the UP Warriors [as favourites]. The two best teams have made it to the final. I'm proud of our group to have a crack."

Sciver-Brunt however remains grateful that Ecclestone dropped her. "I have said thank you for dropping me. She would usually take those, luck of the draw fortunately," she said while accepting her player of the match award for scoring an unbeaten 38-ball 72.

Sciver-Brunt now has the third most runs in WPL 2023 with 272 runs at 54.40 and a strike-rate of 150. Meg Lanning with 310 runs leads the chart.