Bengaluru, Feb 28: Kiran Navgire and Alyssa Healy unleashed a remarkable assault on Mumbai Indians bowlers to power UP Warriorz to a seven-wicket win in their Women's Premier League match here on Wednesday.

Navigre (57, 31b, 6x4, 4x6) and Healy (33, 29 balls) added 94 runs for the opening wicket stand in just 9.1 overs as the Warriorz eased past the 162-run target in 16.4 overs to hand the defending champions their first defeat of the season.

Mumbai batting suffered in the absence of skipper and in-form batter Harmanpreet Kaur, who is nursing a niggle, as a laboured 55 off 47 balls from Hayley Matthews guided them to 161 for six.

It was a competitive total but the Mumbai bowlers would not have suspected a carnage like the one Navigre and Healy unloaded on them.

Navigre, who is the only Indian women batter to score a 150-plus score in senior T20s, fully exploited her promotion as opener, as Mumbai also suffered from the injury-enforced absence of lead pacer Shabnim Ismail.

Healy gave a sound start to UP's chase with two successive boundaries off pacer Nat-Sciver Brunt, and they kept the momentum going from that point.

Navigre, who made a slow start making five off six balls, slipped into her aggressive best against pacer Issy Wong, hammering her for four fours in the third over to collect 16 runs and it was just the beginning of the onslaught.

Navigre, who was dropped on 42 by Wong near the ropes off Matthews, soon completed his fifty in just 25 balls and it came through a thundering six off the West Indian spinner over long-on.

But leg-spinner Amelia Kerr had player of the match Navigre stumped to give a bite of respite to Mumbai, who seemed to have gained a foothold as Wong dismissed both Healy and Tahlia McGrath in the 11th over.

They needed 64 runs at this stage, but Grace Harris (38, 17 balls) and Deepti Sharma (27, 20 balls) made those runs with minimum fuss.

Earlier, Mumbai made a sedate start to their innings and had to wait till the fourth over for the first four.

Yastika Bhatia (26, 22b) gave Mumbai the much-needed acceleration when the left-hander hammered 18 runs off left-arm pacer Anjali Sarvani through a sequence of three fours and a six, which was thumped right over the bowler's head.

However, Bhatia did not last long as a pull played closer to her body off Harris ended in the hands of Rajeshwari Gayakwad.

Matthews too tried to up the tempo and found the occasional big hits amid a slew of mis-time shots. Her four and six off successive balls off left-arm spinner Gayakwad were a reminder to her power and timing when in flow.

Matthews, who was dropped on 43 by Deepti off Harris, reached her fifty in 44 balls but could not kick on.

Her effort to clear long-on off Gayakwad did not have elevation and distance as Harris completed an easy catch.

A couple of hefty blows in the final stages by Pooja Vastrakar (18, 12b) and Wong helped MI to cross the 150-run mark.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Bengaluru, Sep 11: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said he has written to the Chief Ministers of eight states regarding the "unfair" devolution of taxes by the Union government, and has invited them to a conclave in Bengaluru to collectively deliberate on the issues of "fiscal federalism".

He said he has written to the Chief Ministers of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, and Punjab.

"States with higher GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) per capita, like Karnataka and others, are being penalised for their economic performance, receiving disproportionately lower tax allocations. This unjust approach undermines the spirit of cooperative federalism and threatens the financial autonomy of progressive states," he said in a post on 'X' with "#OurTaxOurRight" hashtag.

"I have invited them to a conclave in Bengaluru to collectively deliberate on the issues of fiscal federalism at a juncture when the Finance Commission needs to make a directional shift & create incentives for growth and better tax mobilisation," he said.

ALSO READ: CM denies charge of "vendetta politics" behind panel to speed up probe into scams during BJP rule

Siddararamaiah has also posted the letter written to CMs of other states on 'X'.

"As you are aware the 16th Finance Commission has begun its deliberations. The previous Finance Commissions have laid excessive emphasis on equity at the cost of efficiency and performance. As a result, states with higher GSDP per capita and higher contribution to the gross tax revenues of the union are progressively receiving lower shares of the central fiscal transfers," he said.

Stating that during the visit of the 16th Finance Commission to the State of Karnataka, during 29-30, August 2024, he underscored the need to carefully examine the impact of high emphasis given to equity on resource devolution to well performing states, he said, "I have emphasised that the reduction in central financial transfers to well performing states is placing severe limitations on their ability to invest in physical and human infrastructure."

The taxpayers of states, which are net donors to the divisible pool, also expect a fair share of their taxes to come back to them, he said, adding that the Finance Commission therefore needs to carefully balance equity with efficiency and performance.

Pointing out that states with a strong contribution to the country's GDP and Gross Tax Revenue, help build the nation in more ways than one, Siddaramaiah said, therefore, there is an urgent need to balance equity with efficiency and performance for a stronger Union, both politically and economically.

"It is, therefore, important that states which are receiving smaller shares in horizontal devolution, compared to their contributions to the Gross Tax Revenues of the Union, need to articulate a coordinated set of proposals before the Commission," he said.

"It is my pleasure to invite you to a conclave in Bengaluru to discuss these issues further. I will send a separate invitation indicating the dates once we firm up the schedule," he added.

Get all the latest, breaking news from Karnataka in a single click. CLICK HERE to get all the latest news from Karnataka.