Follow UsFor the longest time, UP Warriorz’ weakness was well documented.
A weak middle-order with an extraordinary dependence on one Grace Harris. After all, the Australian all-rounder had smashed an astonishing 70 boundaries for the team in Yellow and Purple.
But now, a new star in the town, Chinelle Henry.
Ahead of the clash against Delhi Capitals on February 19 (Wednesday), all talks were whether this Warriorz’ middle-order possessed the firepower to blow away a clinal Capitals outfit. But none really foresaw that it was going to be the West Indian all-rounder who was going to change the Warriorz’ fortune.
With a lot on stake, there’s usually added pressure on debut, but not for Henry, who was asked to do one job: have fun.
“One thing Jon [Lewis] said to me was go out there and have fun,” Henry said during the mid-innings chat with broadcasters.
That’s exactly what the all-rounder did: have fun.
Replacing Harris at the crease, Henry channelled her inner Harris and launched an assault, getting off the mark with a boundary. But it was against the experienced Shikha Pandey that the all-rounder got to show her power-hitting range.
In four deliveries, the 29-year-old showed a complete masterclass of T20 batting, finding four different regions for unforeseen results against one of the best bowlers in WPL history.
Ball one: Full-toss, crunched over long-on region for a six, showing her muscle.
Ball two: Back-to-back sixes for Henry, she smacks high and tall over extra cover.
Ball three: Third boundary in three balls, Henry has open-batted Pandey through the third-man region, showing her finesse.
Ball four: Clubbed and Arundhati Reddy has helped it over the ropes for a third six in four balls.
Each boundary was better than the other. Each shot pierced the DC fans sharper than before. Each shot showed Henry’s range more than the other.
Only last December, Henry showed what she’s capable of with the bat, scoring a 16-ball 43 against India at the DY Patil Stadium, smashing three fours and four sixes.
But to now start off your WPL career with a bang: nine-ball 26. It wasn’t any sort of impact, it was just the ‘fast and furious’ impact that the Warriorz needed. Eventually, the Windies all-rounder finished with 33 off 15 balls, the third-best strike rate (220) on WPL debut, only behind Marizanne Kapp (229) and Grace Harris (227).
“I know the role I have to play when I walked out there. Shweta was going well so I didn't mind her facing the balls. It was really good out there,” Henry said during the mid-innings break.
“In December, I had a good time here, so I just picked up where I left off. I think we got to a defendable total. We saw what they did - it's about bowling straight, and the variations work. Hitting straight is my strength, and it was about doing that well tonight."
Now, they don’t have to depend solely on Grace Harris; they might have just found another capable finisher. And the scary part for all the opposition is that she’s hungry and just getting started.