Henry, Harris headline Warriorz's first win
UP Warriorz picked their first points of WPL 2025 with a 33-run win over Delhi Capitals, and became the first team to win a game defending a score this season. Chinelle Henry scored a blistering 62 off 23 balls and equaled the joint-fastest 50 in the history of the competition off just 18 balls while Grace Harris picked up a hattrick to close out the game. Harris and Kranti Goud picked up four-wicket hauls in a comprehensive victory for UPW.
UPW got off to a brisk start with a swiveled pull for four by Vrinda Dinesh before Marizanne Kapp sent one down her legs for five wides. Half-centurion from the previous game - Kiran Navgire, took the charge immediately to Shikha Pandey with a smash over mid-on. In an evening of missed chances on the field for the Capitals, Minnu Mani spilled the first chance on offer as she dropped Navgire on 7.
Vrinda's poor run in the WPL continued, as she nicked behind to the mitts of Sarah Bryce. Deepti Sharma took 10 balls to get off the mark with a very fine pull to the fence. Navgire survived another chance as a heave towards deep-backward square leg fell in no-man's land. But Navgire's lucky reprieves were short-lived as Niki Prasad held on to a skier, off the first ball from Arundhati Reddy. The Capitals piled the pressure on UPW with a string of quiet overs but to their dismay, Mani dropped Tahlia McGrath, her second drop of the evening.
However, Jonassen began a string of tight overs where UPW lost four wickets in the space of five overs. UPW tumbled from 61 for 2 to 89 for 6. Deepti was the first to go with a slog-sweep to Prasad. Shweta Sehrawat hammered a four and a six before she was cleaned up by Reddy. Kapp cleaned up Grace Harris before Chetry edged behind to Bryce.
It brought Henry to the crease who powered Reddy for two sixes to take UPW past 100 in the 15th over. The West Indian was dropped on 13 by Kapp and made the Capitals atone for it in the harshest way possible. Henry and Sophie Ecclestone smashed 24 runs off Pandey in the 17th over before the former took apart Reddy for three sixes, punishing slot deliveries over the ropes, and brought up her fifty in the process. She fell on the last ball of the innings, holing out to the deep mid-wicket fielder.
The UPW didn't help themselves at the start in the field either as Shafali Varma was dropped on 0 by Saima Thakor. The batter scored two streaky boundaries to third-man before she was once again dropped at point. Young Goud cleaned up skipper Meg Lanning from the other end for 5 but more fielding mishaps followed, as Chetry's struggles in the field continued with another missed stumping chance while Rodrigues was dropped by Deepti.
UPW finally held onto one after Varma slashed it to cover-point. Rodrigues chipped Deepti over the in-field on the offside for a brace of fours as the Capitals attempted to wrestle back momentum. Rodrigues took on Henry for a six over the bowler's head before she was dropped at point, after playing a lofted cut. But Henry picked up the struggling Kapp as her pull went to the hands of Ecclestone.
Wickets started to fall for the Capitals regularly despite Rodrigues finding the boundary consistently, taking her past 50. Sutherland chipped to covers while Jonassen was caught by Goud off her own bowling. Rodrigues fell in the same over as Goud picked up a four-fer. Nikki Prasad hit 19 runs off Henry to give the Capitals a chance, but Harris picked a hat-trick to bowl them out and complete the win.
@B0$: UP Warriorz 177/9 in 20 overs (Chinelle Henry 62, Tahlia McGrath 24; Jess Jonassen 4-31) beat Delhi Capitals 144 in 19.3 overs (Jemimah Rodrigues 56, Shafali Varma 24; Grace Harris 4-15, Kranti Goud 4-25) by 33 runs
