Saika Ishaque (3/33) once again led Mumbai Indians’ bowling charge as they restricted UP Warriorz to 159 for 6 in their Women’s Premier League (WPL) match in Mumbai on Sunday. (More Cricket News)
UP Warriorz looked set for a challenging total at the Brabourne Stadium with an 82-run stand for the third wicket between captain Alyssa Healy (58) and Tahlia McGrath (50), but WPL’s highest wicket-taker Ishaque dismissed both the set batters in the 17th over to help her side bounce back.
In the process, Ishaque took her wickets tally to 12 in four matches, once again emerging as Mumbai Indians’ go-to weapon in the competition.
Ishaque provided the first breakthrough early on, trapping Devika Vaidya (6) to take her wickets tally in WPL into double-digit figures (10).
However, after an early blow and sedate start, Healy got into the act and hit four boundaries against Ishaque in the fourth over to make her intentions clear.
At the end of the powerplay, UP Warriorz had raced to 48 for 1 with Healy doing the bulk of scoring.
Kiran Navgire also displayed aggressive intentions by hitting Amelia Kerr for a four and a towering six, but she was soon dismissed by the Kiwi spinner, caught by Yastika Bhatia for 17.
Healy and Navgire added 50 runs for the second wicket from only 28 balls to lay a strong platform, and the UP Warriorz captain found immense support from the other end from compatriot McGrath.
McGrath, at No. 4, began with a flurry of boundaries as the UP Warriorz continued to attack the Mumbai bowlers, putting them under real pressure for the first time in the tournament.
McGrath played some exquisite strokes on the off side with immaculate timing and placement to get her runs, and when Mumbai spinners tried to dry up the runs, she found gaps at will to keep rotating the strike.
Ishaque, off whom the UP Warriorz batters hit a total of 10 fours, finally broke the third-wicket stand by dismissing Healy leg-before with the batter missing to connect on a reverse sweep.
The left-arm Mumbai bowler indeed did well upon her return in the 17th over, as after removing Healy, Ishaque claimed the big wicket of McGrath. The lanky Australian all-rounder was stumped by Yastika Bhatia as Mumbai Indians managed to pull things back. Healy and McGrath faced 61 balls to add 82 runs.
Another key bowler for Mumbai, all-rounder Hayley Matthews played her part well by giving away only 27 runs from her four overs while taking the wicket of Sophie Ecclestone (1).
Amelia Kerr took 2/33 from her four overs, also accounting for Deepti Sharma (7) in the final over.
Mumbai Indians replaced the injured right-arm India pacer Pooja Vastrakar with Dhara Gujjar while UP Warriorz replaced Grace Harris with veteran South African bowler Shabnim Ismail.
