There are no comebacks from here. UP Warriorz with a couple of below-par performances have landed themselves in a do-or-die position in the ongoing WPL as they take on the Mumbai Indians, for whom the last defeat to the Delhi Capitals will sting for a bit.
The Bengaluru leg genuinely showed glimpses and the promise of what this UP Warriorz squad can do, especially with the addition of Chinelle Henry to the line-up, but it all feels like a blur now as the WPL returns for its last stretch of matches in the league stage. The Warriorz lost the last two games, including their first-ever home game in Lucknow and now are in a go-big or go-home situation. It will not be easy as the Warriorz take on a wounded Mumbai Indians.
The tactics, the lack of form for the domestic players and even the inconsistent run of the senior overseas ones has hurt the Warriorz a lot. The Warriorz have their last two matches remaining and a loss on Thursday, will effectively end their campaign in WPL 2025. The Warriorz require runs from their top order. A couple of games ago, that actually did happen but the middle-order faltered. Unless the Warriorz put on a substantial score on the board or have the ability to chase down 160-plus totals, the opponents will see an opportunity for a couple of free points against them.
Delhi Capitals are peaking at the right time and pummeled Mumbai Indians on their way to a third consecutive playoff spot. The batting has had to do the heavy lifting for the Mumbai Indians thus far and in a game when the batters didn’t come to the party, the inaugural champions were dumped to the ground. They will be stinging and UP Warriorz should be ready for the response but there lies an opportunity, should the hosts sieze.
My Dream11 team for WPL 2025 Match 16, UPW vs MI
Georgia Voll, Shweta Sehrawat, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Amelia Kerr, Harmanpreet Kaur, Shabnim Ismail, Yastika Bhatia, Chinelle Henry, Sophie Ecclestone, Kranti Goud, Amanjot Kaur
Probable Playing XIs
UP Warriorz: Kiran Navgire, Grace Harris, Georgia Voll, Vrinda Dinesh, Deepti Sharma (c), Shweta Sehrawat, Chinelle Henry, Uma Chetry (wk), Sophie Ecclestone, Kranti Goud, Gouher Sultana/Saima Thakor
Mumbai Indians: Hayley Matthews, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Amelia Kerr, Amanjot Kaur, Sajeevan Sajana, G Kamalini, Sanskriti Gupta, Shabnim Ismail, Jintimani Kalita/Saika Ishaque
