Harleen Deol smashed 64* in 29 balls as UPW defeated MIW in WPL 2026 game.
Thanks to Nat Sciver-Brunt’s 65 and Amanjot Kaur’s 38, MI Women posted 161/5 in 20 overs after being asked to bat first by UP Warriorz captain Meg Lanning. In response, Meg Lanning gave a good start with 25, and Phoebe Litchfield also made 25 runs.
However, it was Harleen Deol, who made 64* in 39 balls with 12 fours, and Chloe Tryon, who made 27* in 11 balls, that helped UPW win the game by 7 wickets with 11 balls to spare.
When Harleen was batting at 47 off 36 balls against Delhi Capitals in the previous game, the UP Warriorz administration, led by coach Abhishek Nayar, decided to retire her out and summoned her back to the dugout.
However, she hit back in a big way against MI women and played a winning knock, and was named the Player of the Match as well. She was asked about being retired the day before when she went to pick up her trophy.
At that point, she responded appropriately and calmly, stating that she understood why the call was made because a strong hitter like Chloe Tryon was waiting in the wings. She added that she was aware of the aspects of her game that needed improvement after receiving a call from management.
“Yesterday, I was batting well, but as you saw today, Chloe can change the scenario. For me, I just took it in that way. Chloe is someone who can hit big, so probably that didn't go our way. That is the only thing that happened.
It's just normal preparation for me. Nothing different. I was batting well yesterday, also. There's no point in just keeping stressing on that thing. Honestly, yesterday it gave me a lot of confidence, in fact, because the first two games didn't go my way. But then I went on and figured out a few things. I was just trying to overhit. This wicket is not something that, you know, for me as a batter, I should just keep overhitting and just focus more on timing-based things,” said Harleen during the post-match presentation.
Following the victory, Lanning, the captain of the UP Warriorz, stated that she had a conversation with Harleen after the Delhi Capitals game. She expressed her satisfaction with the right-hander's ability to comprehend the management's reasoning and perform better in the subsequent game.
“Oh, look, I had a quick chat with her, and she took yesterday really well. And to come out tonight and play as she did was really great to see. It just shows, you know, what she can do in this format. And yeah, she made it look very easy. So hopefully that gives her a lot of confidence heading into the backend of the tournament,” said Lanning.
Despite defeating the Mumbai Indians, the UP Warriorz are still at the bottom of the WPL 2026 points table after four matches. On the other hand, the Mumbai Indians are currently in second place.
(ANI inputs)