Navi Mumbai, Jan 15 (IANS) Harleen Deol struck a fabulous 64 not out off 39 balls as UP Warriorz ended their winless streak with a commanding seven-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians in Match 8of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026 at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.

Deol, who was controversially retired out the previous night on 47, dominated MI’s bowling attack with clinical strokeplay on the off-side. She carved out cuts, drives, and late-cuts with such authoritative precision and flawless timing that MI appeared helpless despite adjusting their field placements. Deol’s timing was flawless throughout, making fielding positions irrelevant as she pierced gaps at will.

Phoebe Litchfield provided steady support with 25, while Chloe Tryon hit an unbeaten 27 to ensure there were no late jitters, as UPW secured their first win of the season with 11 balls to spare, thanks to an offside masterclass from Harleen.

UPW’s chase began with Kiran Navgire surviving an lbw appeal off Nicola Carey, as the review went in the batter’s favour on umpire’s call, while Shabnim Ismail kept things tight. Meg Lanning found her boundaries through a square drive and cut, while Kiran joined in with back‑to‑back fours off Shabnim.

Nat Sciver‑Brunt’s introduction saw Meg pull her first ball for four, and then sweep a slower off‑cutter for six. A dropped chance of Meg at point-position added to MI’s frustration. But the game turned sharply in the first over after Power-play, when Nat had both Meg and Kiran caught by Sajeevan Sajana at deep square‑leg while trying to pull.

Harleen, looking to prove a point after being retired out for 47, struck four fours in her first six deliveries, with a classy steer in the gap through the off-side against Nicola being the standout shot. Phoebe got going with her inside-out and square drives, before smacking Amelia over long-on for six.

Harleen’s onslaught continued with three boundaries off Shabnim – square drive through point was followed by a drive and a deft late cut guided past third man. Even as Harleen got more boundaries via drive and pull, Phoebe miscued a hoick to square leg and became Amelia’s first scalp of the game.

Harleen raised a fluent half-century off 32 balls with a slog sweep through square leg off Sanskriti Gupra, and followed up with drives to get two more boundaries. With Chloe hitting crucial boundaries via lofts, sweep, pull, and short-arm jab, UPW finally managed to get their first win of the competition.

Previously, Sciver‑Brunt smashed 65 off 43 balls while Nicola remained unbeaten on 32 off 20 deliveries as Mumbai Indians recovered from a slow start to post 161/5. MI flexed their batting depth in a brutal final seven overs, fetching them 83 runs after finding themselves at a precarious 78/3 in 13 overs.

While Sciver‑Brunt hit nine fours and a six in her knock, where she toyed with fields and timed the ball beautifully, Nicola hit five quickfire boundaries, as UPW were unable to contain the late onslaught after maintaining control through the middle overs.

MI’s innings had a stuttering start as Amanjot Kaur, promoted to open the batting in the absence of Hayley Matthews, and G Kamalini struggled to get going against UPW’s new-ball attack, leaving MI with their lowest powerplay score of the season – 32/0.

In a bid to up the ante, Amanjot went for a slog-sweep, but holed out to deep mid-wicket off Deepti Sharma, while Kamalini holed out to long-off against Sophie Ecclestone. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur provided brief resistance with an 11-ball 16 before falling to a spectacular catch by Chloe Tryon off Asha Sobhana Joy.

The match shifted decisively when Nat and Nicola combined for a devastating 85-run partnership off 43 balls. The pair launched a calculated assault on the UP bowling, hammering 33 runs from the 15th and 16th overs combined to wrest control of the innings, followed by plundering 11 and 15 runs from overs 17 and 18 respectively.

Despite managing just one boundary in the final two overs, Nat and Nicola had already inflicted sufficient damage to help MI reach a competitive total. But that was inadequate to stop UPW and a rampaging Harleen to get their first win of the competition.

Brief scores:

Mumbai Indians 161/5 in 20 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 65, Amanjot Kaur 38; Shikha Pandey 1-25, Sophie Ecclestone 1-26) lost to UP Warriorz 162/3 in 18.1 overs (Harleen Deol 64 not out, Chloe Tryon 27 not out; Nat Sciver-Brunt 2-28, Amelia Kerr 1-42) by seven wickets

–IANS

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