In Match 11 of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025, the Mumbai Indians Women put up an outstanding display, defeating the UP Warriorz Women by eight wickets on February 26 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain of MI, chose to bowl first after winning the toss. UP only managed 142/9 in their 20 overs as they failed to construct their innings. Dinesh Vrinda produced 33 off 30, but Grace Harris was the most impressive player with a blistering 45 off 26 balls. With scores of 3/18, Nat Sciver-Brunt was MI’s best bowler. Shabnim Ismail (2/33) and Sanskriti Gupta (2/11) provided support.
The former champions, chasing 143, got off to a sluggish start but took charge when Sciver-Brunt reached the crease. Hayley Matthews (59 off 50) and Sciver-Brunt (75* off 44) put together a match-winning combination of 133 runs after Yastika Bhatia was out early for a duck. Harmanpreet finished at 143/2 in just 17 overs after hitting Sophie Ecclestone for a boundary to round off the victory in spectacular fashion. With six points from this decisive win, MI takes the lead in the standings, while the UP-based team is now in fourth place on the WPL 2025 points table.
Talking Points from WPL 2025 Match 11:
1. The all-around genius of Nat Sciver-Brunt
Mumbai won thanks to an incredible all-around performance by Nat Sciver-Brunt. She was outstanding with the ball, taking 3/18 in her four overs, along with Chinelle Henry, Shweta Sehrawat, and Kiran Navgire. She then played a game-winning knock with the bat, hitting an undefeated 75 off just 44 balls with 13 boundaries. After the innings, Brunt scored 254 runs in four innings, making him the season’s top run scorer. She received the Player of the Match award for her efforts.
2. MI’s innings is managed by Hayley Matthews.
With a strong 59 runs off 50 balls, West Indian batsman Hayley Matthews played a pivotal role in this match. Her team easily reached the 143-run mark because to her innings, which featured seven boundaries and two sixes. Matthews kept the ship afloat even though she lost her opening partner early. As she stayed at the crease until the 16.5-over mark, before losing to Sophie Ecclestone, her contribution was crucial. The chase’s high point was her 133-run partnership with Brunt.
3. The batting meltdown of the UP Warriorz women
The UP Warriorz Women’s batting collapse was dismal, as they only managed 142/9 in 20 overs. The middle order fell apart in spite of a 45 from Grace Harris and a 33 from Dinesh Vrinda. Kiran Navgire (1), Tahlia McGrath (1), and skipper Deepti Sharma (4) did not contribute. They lost because their best hitters were not doing well.
Who Said What?
Losing skipper, Deepti Sharma, said
We lost back-to-back wickets and if we had got a partnership, we could have got to 160-170. (On Grace Harris) Her role was to play to her strengths in the powerplay and she did that perfectly. We’ll come back stronger. There are some takeaways from this loss. We need to work on building partnerships in the middle-order.
Winning Skipper, Harmanpreet Kaur, said
Whatever we tried to executed came out well. Really happy with the result. Getting a wicket in the first over is really crucial. And Nat bowled really well. You just need to do the right thing again and again and Sanskriti’s wickets turned it around. She is really sorted and bowled really well. I think we have got a lot of experience in our side and everyone knows her role. [On Sciver-Brunt] She batted really well and showed her talent. The pitch was looking different when she batted.
Player of the Match, Nat Sciver-Brunt, said
Yeah, I guess so (has she hit a purple patch?). Enjoying my batting at the moment. Feel good of myself. We always talk about the key players. We always talk about the key players – she has played a couple of brilliant innings for UPW. We put our plans in place. It’s great when it comes off. On another day she might’ve hit it in the stands. The fight that we have in our group is brilliant. On a given day, anyone can put in a match-winning performance.
India
