Having blown hot and cold in their WPL 2024 campaign so far, both Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz will be hoping to find some consistency as the business end of the tournament approaches.
Both have played five matches so far with MI having three wins, one more than the Warriorz. MI began the Delhi leg with a loss at the hands of Delhi Capitals and will be hoping to come back strong. The Warriorz, currently placed fourth, will be playing their first match in Delhi and will be looking to start afresh after the loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore in their last game.
MI's bowling - barring Saika Ishaque and Pooja Vastrakar - did not click for them in the last game while their top-order was also a let-down, with three single digit scores among the top four. Harmanpreet, who returned from a quadriceps injury, will like to lead from the front and expect the batters to put up an improved performance.
They can take a cue from RCB who sent the UPW bowlers on a leather hunt, apart from Sophie Ecclestone, and put more strain on the already under-pressure attack. UPW's batters have also not really hit the ground running, with only three half-centuries so far - from Alyssa Healy, Grace Harris and Kiran Navgire - and they will be eager to make amends.
When: Thursday, March 7 at 7:30 PM IST
Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
What to expect: A high-scoring game kicked off the Delhi leg of WPL 2024, although DC, having posted a first-innings total of 192, emerged as comfortable victors. Harmanpreet Kaur, after the loss, pointed out that they expected dew in the second innings but it didn't happen, and that the ball also stayed low a bit. The sample size for this competition in Delhi is a small one but the known nature of the pitches could force the captain winning the toss to chase again.
Team news:
Mumbai Indians: Despite the loss in their last game, MI are likely to stick with the same eleven.
Probable XI: Hayley Matthews, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Amelia Kerr, Amanjot Kaur, Pooja Vastrakar, S Sajana, Shabnim Ismail, Humaira Kazi, Saika Ishaque
UP Warriorz: Vrinda Dinesh was ruled out of the tournament due to a shoulder injury and was replaced by Uma Chetry. Meanwhile, UPW could look at bringing in the young legspinner Parshavi Chopra to add some variety, in place of Rajeshwari Gayakwad who was expensive in the last match.
Probable XI: Alyssa Healy (c & wk), Kiran Navgire, Chamari Athapaththu, Grace Harris, Shweta Sehrawat, Deepti Sharma, Poonam Khemnar, Sophie Ecclestone, Rajeshwari Gayakwad/Parshavi Chopra, Saima Thakor, Anjali Sarvani
What they said:
"The message was simple - play your natural game. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a good start and lost early wickets which put us under pressure. Our top order didn't click and we were still able to narrow that gap. If our top order clicked, we would have gotten that result. The wicket was very good. The ground is a high-scoring ground. It is difficult for bowlers to get you out unless you play rash shots" - Jhulan Goswami, MI bowling coach, after the loss to DC.
"We've got a group of very experienced international cricketers playing with a group of inexperienced domestic cricketers from India. Those levels (fielding) will get closer with the exposure in this tournament. But what I would say is that the international cricketers hit the ball a lot harder than the domestic cricketers do. Therefore, the fielders are under a lot more pressure." - Jon Lewis, UPW head coach, on the team's fielding lapses.
Copyright © Batbricks7© 2020