Chinell Henry’s  late onslaught, uncapped seamer Kranti Goud’s four-wicket haul, Grace Harris’ last-over hat-trick. UP Warriorz had brilliant moments on the field and produced a thumping win over Delhi Capitals to finally get off the mark, in their third attempt, in WPL 2025. In the first reverse fixture of this season, Warriorz defended 177 by bowling Capitals out for 144 for a 33-run victory. They are also the first team to defend a total in this edition.

The Chinnaswamy Stadium came alive late in the first innings thanks to Henry’s fireworks. From 89 for 6, her entertaining 23-ball knock lifted Warriorz from a potential below-par total to a match-winning one. Striking at an astonishing 269.56, Henry smashed eight sixes and two fours to reach the joint fastes fifty, off 18 balls, in WPL history.

In the chase, Jemimah Rodrigue’s 56 held the fort but Capitals collapsed from 97 for 3 to 111 for 7 and couldn’t recover from the slide. Niki Prasad and Shika Pandey’s handy contributions at the death weren’t enough as Goud and Harris shared eight wickets between them to topple Capitals.

A player’s first season of the WPL could easily make or break her confidence, with performances being put under the microscope. Goud, 21, bowled just four overs in the first two matches in her debut WPL season. Warriorz lost both games and she leaked 47 runs. But Deepti Sharma persisted with her over India seamer Saima Thakor, who had to miss out the second time.

Goud quickly found her feet and repaid the team’s faith in the team’s first game in Bengaluru this season. She was hit for a first-ball four by Meg Lanning but, two balls later, nipped one back sharply to disturb the stumps of Capitals’ captain. She conceded just two off her next over, seventh overall, and dismissed Shafali Verma in her next over with a short delivery. Three overs, 16 runs and two wickets. When Goud finished her first spell, Capitals needed 126 runs from 66 balls.

When she came back for her final over, Capitals had to chase 76 off 36 with Rodrigues going strong after her fifty. But Goud had Jonassen caught and bowled and Rodrigues caught at extra cover in the same over to leave Capitals 111 for 6.

Deepti batted at No. 4 in the opening game, making a 27-ball 39. In the next two games, both against Capitals, she came in at No.3 and made a run-a-ball seven in Lucknow, and 13 off 19 balls in Bengaluru. Whether it’s the ideal slot for her is something to keep an eye on especially when the middle order isn’t firing.

In the last WPL, she accumulated 295 runs at a strike rate of 136.67 in eight innings. She came in at No.3 only once and scored 59. But mostly she batted in the middle order, where she remained unbeaten four out of five times and smashed 218 runs including two fifties, at a strike rate of 143.42.

In this WPL, the likes of Tahlia McGrath and Harris not stepping up in the middle order has been a concern for them. It has left Henry with a lot of rescue work to do late in the innings. In the last match, she blazed away an unbeaten 33 off 15 to power them to 166.

On Saturday, Henry came in at No.8 in the 14th over when Warriorz were 89 for 6 and straightaway dispatched two sixes off Reddy to ease some pressure. She then targeted Pandey, smashing a four and two sixes in the 17th over, and threw a few more big blows before eventually losing her wicket to Jonassen in the final ball of the innings.

Warriorz have been the worst team in the middle phase (from overs 7 to 16) this WPL, having lost 15 wickets in the three games including five on Saturday, but Henry’s unbelievable innings helped them fight back.

The ball was swinging and nipping at the start of the second innings, troubling the likes of Shafali and Lanning. But Warriorz were sloppy in the field, Thakor dropped two catches and wicketkeeper Uma Chetry failed to hold onto chances; however Goud pulled them back. Barring Rodrigues, none in the Capitals top seven was able to adapt to the conditions in Bengaluru.

Even Rodrigues took 19 balls to score her first 23 runs and once she found her rhythm, she grew in confidence and smashed eye-pleasing boundaries to the cover region. She raced to her first fifty of this season off 30 balls. And her eight fours and a six gave Capitals some hope but the middle order let the game slip away from them in the end.

In her own words, Harris is a batting allrounder. But she has not set the stage on fire in this WPL yet, scoring just 18 runs in three games. However, with the ball, she had picked up two wickets in her first two matches and levelled that up on Saturday. She first dismissed Capitals’ Player of the Match from last fixture, Annabel Sutherland, in the 14th over of the chase.

In the final over, with 34 needed for a win, Harris removed Prasad, Reddy and Minnu Manni off successive deliveries to become the third player in the WPL to bag a hat-trick after Deepti and Issy Wong.

Brief Scores:
UP Warriorz Women  177 for 9 in 20 overs (Kiran Navire 17, Deepti Sharma 13, Tahlia Mcgarth 24, Shweta Sheravat 11, Chinell Henry 62, Sophie Ecclestone 12; Jess Jonassen 4-31, Marizanne Kapp 2-18, Shikha Pandey 1-39, Arundhatti Reddy 2-52) beat Delhi Capitals Women 144 in 19.3 overs  (Shafali Verma 24, Jemimmah Rodrigues 56, Niki Prasad 18, Shikha Pandey 15*; Chinell Henry 1-42, Grace Harris 4-15, Kranti Goud 4-25, Deepti Sharma 1-25)by 33 runs

[Cricinfo]