NEWS
Follow UsTwo nights ago, the UP Warriorz were one bad ball away from effectively getting knocked out of the 2024 Women’s Premier League (WPL), at the hands of Delhi Capitals (DC). A few minutes ago, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were inches away from once again effectively putting an end to UP’s WPL 2024 campaign.
But somehow, with three group games left, the Warriorz are still very much alive and potentially a game away from making it to the playoffs for the second time in a row.
On the back of RCB’s heart-wrenching defeat against DC, UP’s equation is simple: they need to beat Gujarat Giants (GG) on Monday (March 11) and hope that RCB lose to Mumbai Indians (MI) on Tuesday (March 12). They can go through even if RCB win if they absolutely maul GG (and take their current NRR of -0.365 over RCB’s +0.027), but that is highly unlikely, if not impossible.
UP’s fate, then, is practically not in their own hands. But they are right in the mix, for while they have to beat the bottom-placed side in the competition to get to 8 points, RCB will have to overcome the gargantuan MI, defending champions, to usurp UP and get to the Eliminator.
Things to watch out for
Can Captain Healy take a left out of counterpart Mooney’s book?
After an extremely slow start to the season, the last two Gujarat Giants games have witnessed Beth Mooney showcase her true potential, amassing 145 runs overall off just 86 balls.
Alyssa Healy, in comparison, had a much better start to WPL 2024, but it’s time for the UP Warriorz skipper to take a leaf out of her counterpart’s books and really set the tone with the bat up-front by scoring big.
So far this season, Healy has passed the 25-run mark on four occasions but has only converted one of those into a fifty. And even on that occasion, she was dismissed soon after bringing up her fifty, perishing for 55 against RCB.
Healy’s middling run would not have cost UP Warriorz too much had other batters been in form, but with only two batters in the entire squad averaging over 25 this season — Deepti Sharma and Grace Harris — lack of big runs from the skipper’s bat has proven to be a significant problem for the Warriorz.
It’s not just the runs. There’s also been a noticeable lack of fluency in Healy’s batting this time around, evident by her strike rate, which has just been 117.2. In the powerplay this season, the right-hander has struck at just 114.56, which is 18 fewer than her subsequent strike rate in the first six overs last season (132.43).
With it being now or never for the Warriorz, the franchise need their skipper to return to her best.
Can Sneh Rana put an end to her horror run?
Four matches played. 10.2 overs bowled. 104 runs conceded. No wickets taken.
It’s been a horror WPL 2024 campaign thus far for Sneh Rana, who simply has not been able to make any impact whatsoever.
After being left out of GG’s clashes against DC and RCB, the off-spinner was brought back for the clash against MI on Saturday (February 9) but she ended up enduring a game to forget, conceding 48 runs off the 4 overs she bowled.
At one point, with MI needing 47 off 3 overs, the Giants were in the driver’s seat but Rana’s 24-run 18th over ended up tilting the game completely in the defending champions’ favour.
GG’s season is done, but, at a personal level, Rana has all to play for.
Can she put an end to this horror run and finish her WPL 2024 on a high?
Will the Warriorz persist with Deepti Sharma at No.3?
Against Delhi Capitals, UP Warriorz rewarded the in-form Deepti Sharma with a promotion to No.3, with the intent of neutralizing DC’s left-arm spinners.
There, UP ended up posting a total that was just about par, but the tactic worked as Deepti posted a very well compiled 59 (48). Crucially, she ended up neutralizing the DC left-arm spinners to an extent, striking at 150.00 against them (18 off 12 balls).
It’ll be interesting to see if the Warriorz persist with Deepti at No.3. There’s every reason for them to continue with Deepti, considering Chamari Atapattu and Tahlia McGrath managed just 52 runs in six innings at No.3 in GG’s first six games of the season.
Ground Details
Six games have been played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi so far in WPL 2024, and Mumbai Indians are the only side to successfully chase down a total. There, Gujarat failed to defend the score they put on the board. That being said, teams chasing have come agonizingly close to knocking down the target on multiple occasions. So toss is a factor, but barely.
Delhi has been a pretty high-scoring venue, with the average first innings score reading 177. The average second innings score of 162 should tell you that most affairs at this venue have been very, very close.
In terms of bowling, spin has ruled. 54% of the overs have been bowled by spinners and they’ve taken a whopping 64.2 % of the wickets. Spinners have averaged 24.5 compared to pacers’ 39.4.
These numbers will favour UP, the most spin-heavy side in the league.
Tactical Insights
> This season, Healy has demolished wrist-spinners (33 runs, 0 dismissals, 173 SR) but has struggled big time against finger-spin, scoring just 43 off 44 balls with 3 dismissals. In two of UP’s last three games this season, finger-spinners dismissed Healy. Ashleigh Gardner, who’s been taking the new-ball for GG, has been in good form. She could prove to be a headache for the UP skipper.
> Gardner might enjoy bowling, but she’s likely to have a torrid time with the bat. This season, the 26-year-old averages just 10.8 against spin, with 5 of her 6 dismissals coming against the slower bowlers. And UP are the most spin-heavy side in the league. They’ve remarkably bowled 109.2 overs of spin so far in WPL 2024, which is 36 more than any other side (as of March 10th).
Probable XIs
GG likely XI: Laura Wolvaardt, Beth Mooney (c & wk), Phoebe Litchfield, Ashleigh Gardner, Dayalan Hemalatha, Bharati Fulmali, Kathryn Bryce, Sneh Rana, Tanuja Kanwar, Meghna Singh, Shabnam Md Shakil
UP likely XI: Alyssa Healy (c & wk), Kiran Navgire, Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris, Shweta Sehrawat, Deepti Sharma, Poonam Khemnar, Sophie Ecclestone, Gouher Sultana, Saima Thakor, Rajeshwari Gayakwad
