WPL 2023 Eliminator: 3 Key Match-ups To Watch-Out in MI-W vs UP-W Match

Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz, having finished third and fourth respectively in the points table at the end of the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL 2023), will clash in the Eliminator at the DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai on March 24, Friday. The winner of the match will play Delhi Capitals in the final of the tournament.

At one stage of the tournament, Mumbai was looking like a team to beat, having won their first five games in the season. Mumbai’s performance in the tournament took a sharp turn for the worse after they won five straight games and were the first to clinch a playoff position. They lost their first game against UP Warriorz as they went down by five wickets to taste defeat for the very first time. In their next game against the Delhi Capitals, things got worse as they faced a humiliating defeat. This uplifted Capitals to the top of the table. MI and DC finished with 12 points each, the latter reached the WPL 2023 final on the basis of having a superior net run rate.

Unlike Mumbai, it’s been a topsy-turvy kind of rise for the UP Warriorz, who have been inconsistent throughout their campaign. They finished third in the points table after winning 4 games and losing 4. They are coming off a loss against table-toppers Delhi Capitals but would be confident of their chances in the Eliminator as they were the first team to defeat MI and halt their winning streak. Although the team has seen ups and downs throughout the competition, they still find themselves in a great position to play the final. Warriorz have an all-round squad with quality options in both the batting and bowling department.

With both teams having world-class players it’ll come down to which player will fare well on the night when it matters the most. In this article, we look at the three key player battles which can decide the outcome of the game. 

Three Players to Watch Out for in the MI-W vs UP-W:

3) Hayley Matthews vs Sophie Ecclestone

The Mumbai Indians opener- Hayley Matthews has been in top form in the season. She’s the top run scorer of the Mumbai-based team with 232 runs in 8 innings. And she will be up against Sophie Ecclestone, who has not only been the highest wicket-taker for her team but also is leading the charts in the competition with 14 wickets to her name in eight matches.

In the last game between Mumbai and UP, Matthews scored the most runs for her team- 35 before getting out to Ecclestone, who returned with match figures of 3/15. Fact that both are in form and both are important to their teams, this will be a mouth-watering clash.

2) Harmanpreet Kaur vs Deepti Sharma

The Mumbai Indians skipper has been in excellent form over the last few months. Carrying her good form in the WPL, she has hit 230 runs at an average of 46.00 in this competition at a strike rate of nearly 150. Harmanpreet bats in the middle order and she is likely to face Deepti Sharma, who also generally operates in the middle overs.

Like Harmanpreet, Deepti has also been in great form in the ongoing season, with 9 wickets to her name in eight outings. Deepti was the player of the match for her all-around brilliance in the last game against the Mumbai Indians. She got the better of her Indian skipper Harmanpreet in that game. However, it will be interesting to see who wins the battle this time.

1) Tahila McGrath vs Amelia Kerr

UP Warriorz star Tahlia McGrath is the second-highest scorer in WPL 2023 with 295 runs under her belt. She has hammered four fifties. The top-ranked T20I batter had smashed fifty off 37 deliveries in the first game against Mumbai Indians. In the next outing against the Women in Blue, she scored 38 and was all set to score another fifty, however, her stay at the crease was cut short by Amelia Kerr.

McGrath looks to take on the bowlers from the word go and Kerr is a seasoned T20 campaigner, who knows exactly how to outfox a batter with her leg spin. In a battle between two Giants, the spotlight will be on McGrath and Kerr. Last time Kerr was the winner of the battle between the two, but the in-form McGrath would love to turn the table this time around in the Eliminator.