Harleen Deol bounced back from the setback of being retired out by producing a commanding 64 against Mumbai Indians, letting her bat do the talking and reaffirming her value to UP Warriorz.Harleen Deol enjoyed a dream day on Thursday, winning the Player of the Match award as UP Warriorz secured a seven-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians in the Women’s Premier League. At the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai, Harleen Deol scored an unbeaten 64 off 39 balls, including 12 fours, guiding the Warriorz to a commanding win.
However, just a day earlier, the situation had been less favourable for the young right-hander Harleen Deol. In Wednesday’s match against Delhi Capitals at the same venue, Harleen was retired out with three overs remaining in the Warriorz innings. At the time, Harleen Deol was batting on 47 off 36 balls and looking in excellent touch when Chloe Tryon was sent in to bat.
After her match-winning performance against Mumbai Indians, Harleen Deol explained that the decision was necessary, as Tryon is a clean striker of the ball and could have made a significant impact in the closing overs.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : “Before we go down to the pitch, the dimensions, one side is pretty long – 61 meters on my right, and 53 on my left, straight down is pretty long as well 66 meters. The reason I think this pitch is low scoring is – it swings more than any other wicket that we have seen used throughout the tournament.
It does spin less which is very intriguing compared to what we saw last night. The wickets here have come when bowlers have bowled wicket to wicket, you get lot more opportunities when you do that. We will get swing for the first 3-4 overs, and after that it is about how you use your changes of pace and attack the stumps,” inform Deep Dasgupta and Katey Martin.
Toss : UP Warriorz skipper Meg Lanning won the toss and chose to bowl with no changes in the Playing XI. MI Women skipper Harmanpreet Kaur batting first made one change in the Playing XI resting Hayley Matthews for fit again Nat Sciver Brunt.
Nat-Sciver Brunt’s 65 runs alongside cameos from Amanjot Kaur and Nicola Carey carries MI Women to 161 for 5 in 20 overs
Batting first, MI got off to a wobbly start in the PowerPlay despite not losing a wicket. Amanjot Kaur, opening the batting tonight, farmed most of the strike in the first six overs and found the boundary in every single over barring one. But with her dot ball percentage being on the higher side and with G Kamalini not ticking off, MI made only 32 in the first six.
After Amelia Kerr’s struggles opening the batting in the first two games, MI decided to partner Amanjot Kaur with G Kamalini at the top, but that didn’t pay off either. Kranti Gaud and Shikha Pandey kept swinging the new ball away from the openers, who kept edging and missing in the powerplay of 32 runs, the second-lowest in WPL without losing a wicket. Kamalini barely moved her feet and while Amanjot put away the odd delivery when she got width, she also edged and missed plenty of times.
With pressure mounting, Amanjot attempted to break free and fetched a couple of fours but couldn’t add to that as she found the fielder to fall for 38. Kamalini’s erratic stay then came to an end in the very next over when she was sent back for a 12-ball 5.
Amanjot nearly fell in the third over for 6, but her outside edge bisected first slip and the wicketkeeper for four. Her edges became a recurring theme while facing 27 off the 36 balls in the powerplay. An outside and inside-edge fetched her two boundaries in three balls as Gaud bowled her fourth over on the bounce with her tail up. It was Deepti Sharma and Sophie Ecclestone who soon had the openers holing out in consecutive overs: Amanjot fell for 38 off 33, whereas Kamalini’s horror night ended on 5 off 12.
These two wickets once again put the onus on the experienced duo of Harmanpreet Kaur and Sciver-Brunt. Only by the end of the 11th over did MI’s run rate go past six. Harmanpreet teed off with a couple of boundaries and a six but just when she was looking in ominous touch, an excellent diving catch from Chloe Tryon sent her back. Sciver-Brunt and Nicola Carey had a massive job ahead of them at the end of the 13th over when MI were stuttering at 86 for 2.
Deepti and Ecclestone then looped and turned the ball with such a lack of pace that the experienced duo of Harmanpreet Kaur and Sciver-Brunt also couldn’t put the ball away. The duo started to open up after the halfway mark when Sciver-Brunt found the gap with a reverse sweep and Harmanpreet hit a monstrous six off Asha Sobhana in the 13th over. Asha countered with a wicket immediately, but the credit should go to Tryon, who completed a stunning diving catch at square leg.
The run rate received a massive push in the final seven overs thanks majorly to Sciver-Brunt as she first launched an assault against Asha Sobhana before Carey took apart Tryon for four boundaries in a single over. Sciver-Brunt then hammered five boundaries over the next two overs to bring up a sparkling fifty before the Warriorz made amends in the final two overs. Despite those efforts, MI managed to almost double the total they had on the board after 13 overs.
An in-form Nicola Carey was all Sciver-Brunt needed for company as she started to find the gaps with ease. She pulled Asha for two fours with a straight six in between to take the run rate towards seven. Carey then hammered Tryon for four fours in an over and Sciver-Brunt’s streak of boundaries brought up her 32-ball fifty, her 10th in the WPL, joint-most with Harmanpreet and Meg Lanning.
Sciver-Brunt had earlier been put down by a one-handed effort from Lanning and she got another life when Deepti couldn’t hold on to a tough return chance in a 15-run 18th over. UPW pulled back again in the last two overs to keep MI down to a below-par total.
Harleen Deol produced a statement 67* to give UP Warriorz their first win in WPL 2026
Chasing 162, Warriorz’s PowerPlay mirrored MI’s for a while before Meg Lanning smashed Sciver-Brunt for a six and a four that helped her side knock off 42 runs in the first six overs. But immediately after the timeout, the English international staged a strong comeback by dismissing both the openers in the same over.
UPW’s powerplay was hardly different from MI’s: one opener – Kiran Navgire – never got going while the other, Lanning, hogged the strike. Even though she found boundaries, she looked far from her usual self. Lanning also got a life on 16, when Sanskriti Gupta put one down at point but MI didn’t have to wait long to send her back. Sciver-Brunt handed UPW a double blow, having both Lanning and Navgire hole out in the space of five balls to leave UPW on a tricky 45 for 2 in the seventh over.
Harleen Deol however was unperturbed and hit her first ball for a boundary before adding three more in the next two overs to race to 18 off just 9. Phoebe Litchfield on her part hit a couple of boundaries as well before slamming Amelia Kerr for a six over long on to put Warriorz in command at the halfway mark.
Harleen Deol continued to make merry as she spoiled Shabnim Ismail’s figures by hammering three boundaries in her final over. At the other end though, MI managed to keep Litchfield subdued after her initial assault and that pressure eventually resulted in the Australian miscuing one to depart at a crucial juncture.
It was almost like the retired-out decision lit a fire in her as Harleen Deol came out with intent. Harleen Deol started by collecting three fours off her first three deliveries with a cut, drive and late dab to pierce different gaps on the off side, and the cameras immediately showed coach Abhishek Nayar, who had called her back on Wednesday. With No. 3 Phoebe Litchfield also in good nick at the other end, Harleen Deol kept going after MI as they kept offering width on the off side
At that stage. Warriorz needed 44 from 30. Sanskriti Gupta, who had delivered two tight overs, gave Harleen Deol the release she needed by bowling a no-ball and the resulting free-hit was dispatched for a boundary to bring up a fifty. Harleen Deol found the boundary a couple of more times in the same over before Tryon took charge. The South African went on a rampage striking four boundaries and a huge six in an unbeaten cameo that eased things in the end for chasing side to prevail in the penultimate over.
Harleen Deol bagged another streak of three fours in four balls and all on the off side off Shabnim Ismail to stamp her name all over the chase to make the equation a gettable 64 from 48. After striking eight fours in her first 20 balls – all on the off side – with timing and placement, she finally collected her first boundary through leg when she pulled Kerr behind square. Kerr, however, dismissed Litchfield for the eighth time in T20s to end that 15th over before Deol brought up a 32-ball fifty and smashed Gupta for three fours in her 15-run over.
Even though the equation became a comfortable 29 off 24, Harleen Deol and Tryon kept their foot on the pedal for regular boundaries and finished things off with 11 balls to spare.
Mumbai Indians bowlers kept offering width to her, and she kept cashing in on that, ready to throw her arms at it, en route to an unbeaten 39-ball 64 – becoming only the second Indian to register a half-century in this season’s WPL. On a day when most batters struggled to get going at a breezy pace, Harleen’s attacking innings allowed UP Warriorz to cruise past Mumbai Indians’ total with 11 balls to spare, and secure their maiden win of the season. The redemption was complete in just over 24 hours.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Harmanpreet Kaur the loosing MI Women skipper said : (what was par here?) I felt 180 or something which we were looking for because we knew batting first is not easy on this track. But I think we did recently well in the powerplay. We didn’t lose the wicket, but unfortunately, runs were not enough on the board, but later on, I think Nat and Nic put us on a better situation. But I think credit goes to Harleen the way she batted today. Yeah, I mean, chasing is always better when dew is there.
Today, a lot of dew was there. And I think, yeah, setting up total is something which we are really looking forward and hopefully in upcoming games, we’ll come up with the better approach. (on using her other options with the ball) Yeah, I think it was a great opportunity for them to come and bowl a few overs for the team.
I think they did decently well because a lot of dew was there, bowlers not, you know, gripping well, but I think even the score was not, you know, enough on the board.
So I think, I think they bowled decently well, yeah. (on Harleen) Yeah, definitely. I think she’s shown what, you know, why she’s there in the side and what she can bring to the team. And I think today she batted beautifully and I think she’s someone who always wanted to do well for her team. Yeah, surprised to see she was retired in the last game, but I think she came up with very positive mindset and I hope she’ll continue that.
Meg Lanning the UP Warriorz winning skipper said : Yeah, I think so. Throughout the first three games, there’s still been a lot of positives. We’ve put together some good cricket, but probably just not as consistent as we would have liked. I think tonight was an excellent performance, bouncing back from last night to be able to beat Mumbai, who are an excellent team.
So, yeah, very happy. (on them being on a losing streak) Oh, yeah, I think it’s been a really big learning curve for myself and the team included. We sort of came together with a pretty good time. And as I said, we played some good cricket, but we just weren’t able to nail it when we needed to as consistently as we would have liked. So, there’s been some really good chats over the last few days around how we want to approach it.
And, you know, there’s always been a winning attitude within this team. Although the results didn’t go our way in the first few games, the belief was there and the confidence was there as well. It was nice to see tonight. (on Harleen) Oh, look, I had a quick chat to 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. (pleased with Harmanpreet’s wicket?) Yeah, sometimes things work out as you hope they would. But you’re right, the bowlers did an excellent job. I think we read the pitch reasonably well and were able to adjust to the conditions.
And yeah, to keep them to 160-odd, I think was a really good effort and then allowed our batters to do their thing. (this win kickstarts things?) Yeah, I think so. You just need that to give you that bit of confidence. Obviously, we felt like we were playing some good cricket, but you do want the wins to back that up because that’s what it’s all about. So yeah, hopefully that’s a little kickstart for us heading into the backend.
Harleen Deol Player of the Match for her 67 * runs said : I feel good. A first win for the team and I’m very happy. (what were the emotions last night after being retired out?) Actually, yesterday also I was batting well but as you saw today, how 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 which happened.
(anything different tonight in terms of the way you batted?) Nothing different actually. I just got a little boundary balls, so I could convert it into boundaries. Sometimes it’s just your day – that wherever you are thinking to hit, the ball comes there, so it was that for me. (was it easy or hard after last night?) Nothing. It’s just normal preparation for me. Nothing different. I was batting well yesterday also.
There’s no point just keep stressing on that thing. Honestly yesterday it gave me a lot of confidence in fact, because first two game 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 which you know for me as a batter to just keep overhitting and just more on timing based things. (stand with Litchfield) Definitely.
In the first inning, I think wicket played a little role for the batters because it was hard to score runs. And then afterwards in the 2nd inning, wicket got better, ball started coming nicely on to the bat. We didn’t plan too many things. We were just looking to hit and it was just coming on its own. We were just enjoying it and having some fun there. (best knock from her in WPL?) This WPL? I would definitely say yeah.
When you have a score under your belt, you just feel more confident. Even though the first two game didn’t go my way, I’m someone who will just look to make my team win. I will just look things, how I can contribute towards the team and that’s how it was today.
Harleen Deol scripted a fantastic turnaround barely 24 hours after being retired out by starring in UP Warriorz’s first victory of the season. Harleen Deol hit an unbeaten half-century (64* off 39) to guide her side home and open their account this season as UP Warriorz beat Mumbai Indians comfortably by 7 wickets. Her efforts ensured Nat Sciver-Brunt’s all-round display went in vain.
A fired-up UP Warriorz (UPW) side breathed some life into their WPL 2026 campaign by earning their first points of the tournament, and they did it in style against the defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI). UPW were playing back-to-back games, but they turned up with a fresh approach to hand MI their second loss in four games.
UPW’s pace bowlers bossed the powerplay, their spinners strangled MI’s batters briefly, and even though Nat Sciver-Brunt’s 65 lifted MI to 161, Harleen Deol smashed an unbeaten 64 off 39 balls, barely 24 hours after she had been contentiously retired out, to lead the UPW chase. She peppered the boundary 12 times and saw Chloe Tryon hammer an unbeaten 27 off 11 in her second WPL innings to seal the seven-wicket win.
What a chase this is from the UPW. Abhishek Nayar, the head coach hugs Lanning and the UPW contingent are all smiles. The heroine of this chase is Harleen Deol. She was retired out last night when she was batting so well – a move that caused chatter all over. After her retirement, UPW lost the plot and didn’t add many. No such worries tonight. Harleen came out like a woman possessed. Especially her off-side play. It reminded one of Rahul Dravid’s famous comment about Sourav Ganguly – “On the offside, first there is God, then Sourav Ganguly.”
The same could be said of Harleen Deol tonight. She was that good. MIW had no answers to her cuts, drives and late-cuts. Harleen Deol timed them so well, that one wonders if any number of fielders on the off-side would have prevented her strokeplay. Earlier, Lanning looked good after being dropped early on but she didn’t kick on. The partnership between Harleen Deol and Litchfield was key and then Tryon came out to play a superb cameo. In the end, UPW cantered to a win with 11 balls to spare.
Few moments in sport cut deeper than being publicly told you are not good enough in that instant. For a batter, it is the ultimate humiliation. Not being dismissed by the opposition, but by your own team’s decision. Harleen Deol experienced that nightmare earlier this week when she was asked to retire herself out for a poor strike rate during a Women’s Premier League 2026 clash between the UP Warriorz and the Delhi Capitals in Navi Mumbai.
What made the decision sting even more was the context. Harleen Deol was just three runs short of a half-century. That milestone, however, mattered little to a management group led by Abhishek Nayar, who chose to pull the plug in search of quicker runs. The call backfired spectacularly. The Warriorz’s gamble collapsed, leaving the franchise red-faced and Deol carrying the emotional weight of a decision that would have unsettled even the strongest minds.
What followed could have gone in two directions. Harleen Deol could have retreated into her shell, burdened by embarrassment and second-guessing every movement at the crease. Or she could respond with clarity, composure, and conviction. She chose the latter.
That response came swiftly and emphatically, against the Mumbai Indians. Harleen Deol has long been known for her vibrant personality off the field, her energy and expressiveness often as visible as her strokeplay. This time, however, there was no outward show. No extra celebration. No statement beyond the scoreboard. She let the bat do the talking.
Chasing a demanding target, Harleen Deol produced an innings that shifted the narrative entirely. She dismantled the bowling with a fluent and fearless knock of 64 off 39 balls, striking 12 boundaries and guiding the Warriorz home with authority. This time, there was no debate. No questioning of intent. Only clarity.
For the Warriorz, the innings against Mumbai Indians may serve as a turning point in their campaign, both in results and in trust. For Harleen Deol, it was something more personal. Proof that even after a batter’s worst nightmare, belief can be rebuilt, scars can be erased, and sometimes, silence with the bat can be the loudest response of all.
With this victory, the Warriorz became the fifth and final team to register a win in WPL 2026. Despite the triumph, they remain at the bottom of the points table with two points and a net run rate of -0.906. The Warriorz will aim for back-to-back wins when they face Mumbai Indians again on Saturday, January 17, at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai.
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