Navi Mumbai, Jan 15 (IANS) On return to the playing eleven, Nat Sciver-Brunt smashed 65 off 43 balls while Nicola Carey remained unbeaten on 32 off 20 deliveries as defending champions Mumbai Indians recovered from a slow start to post 161/5 against UP Warriorz in their Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026 clash at the Dr. DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.

Mumbai Indians (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, Carey hit five quickfire boundaries.

UP Warriorz, meanwhile, will rue their inability to contain the late onslaught after maintaining control through the middle overs. The chase now rests on their batters to overhaul a target that looked unlikely when they had MI in trouble at the end of 13 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 Power-play 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 Sciver-Brunt and Carey 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 what appears to be a competitive total on the tricky pitch.

Brief sScores:

Mumbai Indians 161/5 in 20 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 65, Amanjot Kaur 38; Shikha Pandey 1-25, Sophie Ecclestone 1-26) against UP Warriorz

–IANS

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