All-round Mumbai Indians record fourth straight win in WPL, thrash UP Warriorz by eight wickets
Mumbai, Mar 12: Mumbai Indians dished out an all-round show as they sauntered to an eight-wicket win over UP Warriorz to record their fourth straight win in the Women's Premier League (WPL) here on Sunday.
Saika Ishaque (3/33) led Mumbai Indians' fightback with the ball to derail UP Warriorz, who looked set to register a competitive total after half-centuries from Alyssa Healy (58) and Tahlia McGrath (50).
UP Warriorz slumped from 140 for 3 in the 17th over to finish at 159 for 6 after electing to bat, and with 160 to get, Mumbai Indians overhauled the target on the back of captain Harmanpreet Kaur's unbeaten 53 and Nat Sciver-Brunt's 45 not out, with Yastika Bhaita (42) playing a strong hand at the top.
Harmanpreet and Sciver-Brunt added an unbeaten 106 for the third wicket as Mumbai Indians reached 164 for 2 in 17.3 overs.
Bhatia took the initiative of scoring at the top, contributing heavily in her 58-run stand for the opening wicket with Hayley Matthews (12).
After a flurry of boundaries in the powerplay, Bhatia sent the ball flying over long-on off Rajeshwari Gayakwad in the seventh over. But on the next ball, she played straight to Simran Sheikh at deep midwicket, perishing for 42 off 27 balls with eight fours and a six.
There was drama in the fifth over when Sophie Ecclestone trapped Matthews leg-before and UP Warriorz were forced to take a DRS appeal successfully. The batter had a word with the umpire and the bowler, as it turned out that a different delivery was shown on the review.
Matthews' surprisingly slow innings, however, ended at 12 off 17 balls when she gave a simple return catch to Ecclestone.
Both Harmanpreet and Sciver-Brunt had luck on their side in the 11th over as they looked to rebuild. Anjali Sarvani bowled Harmanpreet around the legs, but the bails did not come off, and Sciver-Brunt did well to make the crease just in time to survive a direct hit from Sheikh at cover.
In the 14th over, Ecclestone failed to grab a tough chance at cover off Gayakwad to dismiss Sciver-Brunt on 22, and Harmanpreet added insult to injury by hitting consecutive fours.
Harmanpreet recorded her second fifty in WPL, hitting nine fours and one six to make 53 not out from 33 balls while Sciver-Brunt played yet another match-winning knock of 45 not out from 31 balls with six fours and one six.
Earlier in the first half, Ishaque claimed three wickets for 33 runs to help Mumbai Indians apply brakes on UP Warriorz charge.
Ishaque gave away 10 boundaries in her four-over spell, but she broke through at the top, dismissing Devika Vaidya early in the powerplay. She returned for her last in the 17th over, removing Healy and McGrath from the equation within one over to pull things back in Mumbai's control.
Ishaque took her wickets tally to 12 in just four WPL games so far, cementing her position as Mumbai Indians' go-to bowler when in need of breakthroughs.
Healy did the bulk of the scoring at the top, adding 50 runs for the second wicket with Kiran Navgire (17) and in the company of her compatriot Tahlia McGrath, the UP Warriorz captain added another 82 runs to lay the platform for a strong total.
Even though UP Warriorz formed vital partnerships in the middle, at no stage did they really launch an all-out attack against the Mumbai bowlers, who for the first time in four matches were pushed on the backfoot.
Both Healy and McGrath got their second half-centuries respectively of the tournament. The UP Warriorz captain, who made a match-winning 96 not out in the last match against Delhi Capitals, scored a 46-ball 58 with seven fours and a six.
On the other hand, the most impressive batter in the UP Warriorz ranks was McGrath, who pierced the field at will, rotated the strike with ease and played some superb strokes on the off-side with timing and precision.
The lanky Australia and UP Warriorz all-rounder finished at 50 from 37 balls, hitting nine fours in the process.
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Stalin takes veiled dig at Palaniswami for doing ''politics'' by donning a farmer''s garb
Tiruvannamalai (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday took a veiled dig at AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami saying some do politics by donning the garb of a farmer and yet support laws that are detrimental to ryots.
In his address after inaugurating an agriculture expo and seminar here, the chief minister said that in giving priority to agriculture and farmers, "our Dravidian model government is a pioneer."
As soon as the DMK assumed office in 2021, the Department of Agriculture was renamed as "Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department."
Taking a veiled dig at the BJP, and DMK President said "some will change names according to their whims and fancies, but they will make farmers helpless and prompt them to hit the streets to stage protest."
The reference is perceived to be aimed at the BJP and the three controversial farm laws that were repealed later by the Centre following protests by farmers.
Furthermore, apparently targeting AIADMK chief Palaniswami, Stalin said, "some others engage in politics by donning the garb of a farmer."
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"However, they support laws that affect farmers; they will trivialise the struggles of farmers."
Stalin said that unlike others, for the Dravidian model government, the welfare and growth of farmers alone is important.
"That was why we thought of raising the income of farmers by increasing production and productivity," the CM noted.
As part of steps to achieve that goal, a separate budget --encompassing a slew of welfare measures-- for agriculture was introduced.
So far, 5 agri-budgets have been presented in the Assembly and in total, Rs 1.94 lakh crore was the allocation. The last agri-budget alone had an allocation of Rs 45,661 crore and when compared to allocation made in 2021-22, it was a 33 per cent increase.
The chief minister said: "Today, technology has advanced so much. Science and technology have progressed to the extent that tasks which used to take many hours can now be completed in a few minutes, and work done by hundreds of people can now be accomplished by a few machines."
Only when such advancement reaches the hands of farmers, it would transform into true development.
"We are organising these agricultural exhibitions so that you do not have to wander in search of these technologies," the CM said told the farmers.
Wondering if it was enough to hold only an exhibition, Stalin said, in order to make farmers understand concepts and use advancements, discussions with agricultural scientists in as many as 13 topics have been arranged to benefit them.
Through such seminars, farmers could learn new cultivation methods and agricultural business opportunities, he added.
On the occasion, the CM distributed welfare assistance to farmers, marking distribution to as many as 518 farmers, worth about Rs 9.43 crore.
The 2-day exhibition (on Dec 27 and 28, 2025 at Tirukovilur Road) that was inaugurated by the chief minister here was the third such event held by the state government this year. The first expo was held in June at Perunthurai in Erode district and the second was held at Chennai Trade Centre in the month of September.
In a separate government function held at Malappambadi in the district, the chief minister inaugurated as many 314 projects which includes new buildings for state-run healthcare facilities, government offices and a new police station in Tiruvannamalai (New Temple PS) town.
He laid foundation stone for 46 initiatives including a new paddy godown to be set up at Vembakkam. Also, he distributed welfare assistance --which includes housing pattas, houses under Kalaignar Kanavu Illam Thittam and crop loans-- to beneficiaries marking commencement of distribution to as many as 2,66,194 beneficiaries.
All such initiatives (including projects inaugurated by the CM) are cumulatively worth about Rs 2095.07 crore, the government said.
