Warriorz need their overseas stars to step up against unbeaten Mumbai

Alyssa Healy’s UP Warriorz are yet to register a win in the 2024 Women’s Premier League and will have to play out of their skin if they want to get the better of unbeaten Mumbai Indians on Wednesday (February 28) at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. 

The Warriorz started their season with a two-run defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore before being hammered by Delhi Capitals. They have formidable overseas players in their arsenal but the likes of Healy, Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris and Sophie Ecclestone haven’t done anything of note.

Meanwhile, Harmanpreet Kaur has led Mumbai from the front, scoring 55 and 46* in their two successful run-chases. In fact, the defending champions are yet to lose a match while chasing in the WPL. Unlike UP’s foreign stars, Mumbai have got good contributions from Amelia Kerr, Shabnim Ismail and Nat Sciver-Brunt. 

(All stats till Match 4 of the WPL 2024)

Things to watch out for

Time for UP to bring in Athapaththu or Wyatt?

59 runs at an average of 9.8 and a strike rate of 75.6 - this is what all UP’s top three batters (Healy, Vrinda Dinesh and McGrath) have managed across two games. Against Delhi, they lost their first three wickets with just 16 runs on the board. It’s still the start of the tournament but the management would know that one more defeat could put them in a peculiar position. 

You can’t drop Healy because she is the captain while Harris slammed 38 off 23 in the first game against Bangalore. McGrath could be left out, but for that to happen, UP will have to make a couple of changes. The 28-year-old has opened the bowling in both games but has managed only one wicket while conceding runs at an economy of 10.66. 

UP could bring in Anjali Sarvani or Saima Thakor in place of Gouher Sultana and replace McGrath with either Chamari Athapaththu or Danielle Wyatt who are both excellent batters in these conditions. Athapaththu had a mindblowing 2023. The left-hander was the Player of the Tournament at the Women’s Big Bash League and was also nominated as the T20I captain of the year by the ICC for scoring 470 runs at a healthy strike rate of 130.9 in T20Is.

Meanwhile, Wyatt has an outstanding record in India. The right-hander from England has slammed 459 runs in 17 T20I innings at an average of 30.6 and a strike rate of 142.1. Both of them are fantastic batters of spin bowling and after going unsold in the last auction, Athapaththu and Wyatt would be eager to prove their worth in this tournament.

Amelia Kerr is Mumbai’s MVP

The leg spin-bowling allrounder from New Zealand has been phenomenal for MI since the first season. After scoring 149 runs @ 37.25 and claiming 15 wickets @ 14.1 in the first edition of the WPL, Kerr has started the second season with a bang. 

The 23-year-old picked up two wickets and scored 24 off 18 against Delhi and then followed it up with a player-of-the-match level performance against Gujarat. She first took 4/17 and then hit 31 off 25 to help Mumbai chase down a tricky total. If Kerr’s all-round presence is not enough, MI also have two more world-class allrounders in Hayley Matthews and Nat Sciver-Brunt.

Ground details

The M.Chinnaswamy Stadium has hosted four games so far and three have been won by the team batting second, with Mumbai winning two of them. Meanwhile, the Warriorz are the only team to lose a match at this venue while chasing this season, having failed to reach the 158-run target against Bangalore.

We witnessed four 150-plus scores in the first two encounters but batting first hasn’t been easy in the last two games. Gujarat Giants could get only 126/9 against Mumbai in the third game of the season, while UP scored just 119/9 against the Capitals. 

The spinners have had more success so far at this venue, having taken 28 wickets in eight innings at a strike rate of 17.7 and an economy rate of 7.5. The seamers have operated at a strike rate of 22.1 and an economy of 7.3.

Tactical insights

> The Warriorz need Sophie Ecclestone at her absolute best against Mumbai. The left-arm spinner has a superb record against almost every MI batter. She dismissed the in-form Harmanpreet (average 15.3) three times since 2023. 

Ecclestone has dismissed Kerr three times in T20s, while Matthews has been dismissed by her two out three times in the WPL.

> Kerr has a terrific record against McGrath, dismissing her five times in 10 innings in T20s. The Australian all-rounder has a strike rate of well below 100 against Kerr.

Probable XIs

Mumbai Indians Women - Hayley Matthews, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur ( c ), Amelia Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar, Amanjot Kaur, S Sajana, Shabnim Ismail, Keerthana Balakrishnan, Saika Ishaque

UP Warriorz - Alyssa Healy (c & wk), Vrinda Dinesh, Tahlia McGrath/Chamari Athapaththu/Danielle Wyatt, Grace Harris, Shweta Sehrawat, Kiran Navgire, Poonam Khemnar, Deepti Sharma, Sophie Ecclestone, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Gouher Sultana/Anjali Sarvani