WPL 2025, Match 16 Review: Amelia Kerr, Hayley Matthews help MI-W overcome UP-W

Mumbai Indians Women secured victory over UP Warriorz Women by six wickets and nine deliveries to spare in Match 16 of the Women's Premier League 2025 at the Ekana International Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Thursday, March 6. 

The powerplay was quite a fruitful one for UP Warriorz, as they brought up their team fifty. It was quite a contrasting start from the opening batters, with Georgia Voll clearly being the aggressor of the two. While Voll had raced to 24 off 14 deliveries, with Grace Harris playing 22 deliveries for just 21. A 12-run seventh over hinted towards a substantial total to be posted. The first breakthrough of the evening came on the final delivery of the eighth over.  

The same over in which Voll brought up her maiden WPL fifty was when Amelia Kerr claimed her first wicket of the game. The dismissal of Voll brought about three quiet overs. The 15th over was when the momentum shifted towards Mumbai, with Kerr's leg-spin bringing about a couple of wickets. Kerr ended up with her maiden five-wicket in the shortest format. UP concluded their innings on a score of 150 for the loss of nine wickets. 

Kerr struck a couple of boundaries in the first two overs of the run-chase, but departed on the final delivery of the third over. That did not stop the pair of Hayley Matthews and Nat Sciver-Brunt from forging a substantial partnership. Together, they brought the required run rate to less than a run-a-ball in what was truly a match-altering 92-run stand by the duo.

The two departed in successive overs to provide UP some respite. Amanjot Kaur and Harmanpreet Kaur were the new batters at the crease. A few overs of disciplined bowling, along with the dismissal of Kaur made it seem that it would be a close finish. However, Amanjot and Yastika Bhatia ended the game via a few boundaries at the end. The win saw Mumbai climb up to second on the points table, with their fourth win in six games.