WPL 2025: UP Warriorz Women vs Mumbai Indians Women, Match 16 - Who Said What?

UP Warriorz (UPW) hosted Mumbai Indians Women (MI-W) on Thursday, March 6, at the Ekana Cricket Stadium. The clash between the two sides saw the MI-W winning by six wickets. 

After winning the toss, Mumbai Indians skipper Harmanpreet Kaur opted to field first against the hosts. The powerplay was very productive for UP Warriorz, as they took their side fifty. It was a very different beginning compared to the start of the opening batswomen, with Georgia Voll being the more aggressive of the two. While Voll had charged to 24 off 14 balls, with Grace Harris playing 22 balls for only 21. A 12-run seventh over promised a big total to be in sight. The evening's first breakthrough arrived on the last delivery of the eighth over.  

UP concluded their innings on a score of 150 for the loss of nine wickets. Kerr hit a few boundaries in the initial two overs of the run chase but was out on the last ball of the third over. That did not deter the Hayley Matthews and Nat Sciver-Brunt duo from combining to score a huge stand. Both of them reduced the target rate required to below a run-a-ball in what was a match-changing 92-run partnership by the duo. The two left in consecutive overs to give UP some relief.

Talking Points

1. Altercation between Harmanpreet Kaur and Sophie Ecclestone 

The incident took place at the end of the 19th over when the umpire told Harmanpreet Kaur that they could have only three players outside the circle in the last over due to the slow over-rate. It did not go down well with the MI captain, and she started arguing with the umpire. Amelia Kerr was also upset as she was supposed to ball the last over.

Also Check: Video of the Day- WPL 2025: Massive altercation in WPL as Harmanpreet Kaur points finger at Sophie Ecclestone

2. Amelia Kerr's first fifer in the shortes format

UP Warriorz Women were ready to end on a high note until Amelia Kerr applied the brakes. She took the whole middle order of UP on her own to claim as many as five wickets. She got rid of Kiran Navgire as her first wicket before sending out perilous batter Deepti Sharma for 27 off 25 balls.

3. Hayley Matthews leads Mumbai's charge in thrilling chase

Mumbai Indians Women started the chase in great style, with Hayley Matthews taking the lead. Though they lost Amelia Kerr on 10 off 13, Matthews anchored the innings together with Nat Sciver-Brunt through a 100-run stand.

Who Said What?

Harmanpreet Kaur, MI Women's winning skipper said:

They batted really well, we were not able to use the conditions in the first six overs. We knew we just needed one wicket to come back into the game. The opportunity came at the right moment. (On Kerr) She's always looking to get wickets, today she bowled really well and got all the crucial wickets. (Opening pair) We're quite flexible, we have to prepare really well, today we went with what was best for us. All the games, we try to stay together. Really happy with the way we played today.

Deepti Sharma, UP Warrioz's losing skipper said:

We are doing back-to-back mistakes in the middle-order, our top-order and lower-order are doing well, we need to look at the middle-order. But we have positives too and it was nice to see Voll perform with the bat tonight. We had a lot of expectations on the middle-order batters and let's hope for the best in the last game. As a player, I always think about how to improve myself in every department. But I'm learning all the time as to how I can do better in the next game.

Hayley Matthews, Player of the Match said:

(Best she has batted this season?) Yeah, I think so, probably had one other fifty but that felt a lot more scratchy than today. Really good to get to the crease and felt like I was flowing quite well. (Bowling plan) We just wanted to stay really calm. We had a lot of discussions prior to the match about them probably being the better powerplay side with the bat. They did get off to a really good start. Just staying calm as a team and knowing that we can catch up, which is exactly what we did do. (On the surface) Pretty good to bowl on as an offspinner, turn and bounce on the wicket. Fortunately, when I went to bat, a bit of dew came on and the ball was sliding on a bit. It was really good to play a match here but obviously super excited to get over to Mumbai and finish off our group stage matches.