Chinelle Henry's blitz, Kranti Goud's breakthrough, and a hat-trick

By the previously set standards in Women's Premier League, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, the crowd was sparse on Saturday night for the clash @L0$. Nonetheless, in the absence of the home team to support, they were willing to cheer on any moment of action on the field - sixes, wickets, dropped catches or heated altercations. And there were plenty of those coming their way. For a contest that wouldn't count as the most thrilling played out this season - in fact not even among the most dramatic that the Capitals have been a part of - it still had several subplots unfolding, if not ebbs and flows, through the course of the game.

@B0$

'120 isn't going to win us the game'

Jon Lewis, the head coach of UP Warriorz, has coached multiple teams in multiple countries over multiple formats, but victory has eluded him for nearly four and a half months. He probably understood better than most others what's not going to win his team a game. Thus, when Chinelle Henry walked out to bat at 89 for 6 in the 14th over, the coach had given clear instructions: attack.

Glimpses of Henry's hard-hitting abilities were evident from the get-go when she had powered along to an unbeaten 15-ball 33 against the same opposition three evenings ago in Vadodara. With her team in dire straits, Lewis was fair to expect a repeat of that performance, a role for which she was held back as low as No. 8 in the batting order. To his surprise, she exceeded even those expectations, scoring faster and hitting longer, blowing the wind out of DC's sails. Having never previously scored a half-century in elite-level cricket (internationals and franchise leagues), Henry smoked 8 sixes en route to her 23-ball knock of 62, putting on not only her best performance but also arguably one of the most destructive innings in WPL history.

A few tournament records tumbled through the course of her innings. The joint fastest fifty. Most sixes in an innings. The joint second most expensive over. Shikha Pandey bore most of the brunt, being at the receiving end of a 24-run over. Henry's knock flipped the momentum, took UPW to a respectable total and eventually that knock proved to be the difference between the two teams as UPW registered their maiden win of the season.

@B1$

It feels like UP Warriorz's campaign is finally picking up pace. But for as fine as Henry's innings was on Saturday, and for as strong and dangerous that potentially makes UPW for the rest of the tournament, it nicely covered over the cracks that already exist, and neatly wrapped and ribboned a bigger concern. The answer lay in the last ball of the fifth over, when Deepti Sharma signalled towards her gloves to the umpire. The UP Warriorz captain wanted the umpire to take note of the fact that the ball which had swung down the legside was gloved by her en route its way to the boundary fence. It was the first run she had scored in her 10-ball stay at the crease till then.

Kiran Navgire's early blitz in the previous two games had hidden the fact that the rest of the top order batters were unable to take advantage of the powerplay. When even she struggled to get the big hits going on Saturday, it exposed the limitation of UP Warriorz batting concerns at the top. That Deepti managed to pick that boundary was also because the ball had swung way down the legside without any fielding protection to cover those tickles.

In the powerplay, they managed to score only 38 runs, of which 14 had come through extras. Moreover, the pacers had strayed in their lines several times even as conditions were conducive for them, and a dropped catch by Minnu Mani had offered Navgire a lifeline on 7.

In the absence of Alyssa Healy and the curious omission of Chamari Athapaththu, UPW are the only team in the competition that doesn't have an overseas player opening for them, let alone have any of them bat in the top-three like UPW. Quite curiously this season, they have held back their power-hitters for the latter stages of the innings. That their middle order, which includes Tahlia McGrath and Grace Harris, hasn't been able to fire has only worsened their woes. Despite the big total and the comfortable win, the batting concerns minus Henry still persist for them.

ar4E4qjQeqr

@B2$

Shafali Verma was dropped twice. On 0 and 20. But such below-par have been UPW's standards over the last two seasons, that it was in fact one of their better days in the field. Some sharp chances were taken and the usual fumbles didn't follow. In fact, they outfielded their opponents on the day, the same opposition that had rolled past the finish line in a tense chase courtesy UPW's fielding lapses in the last couple of overs of the contest.

Jonathan Batty, Capitals' head coach, wants to believe that his team prides itself on the fielding standards they set for themselves, but on Saturday they were far off the mark. Worryingly, it was some of their better fielders - Marizanne Kapp and Minnu Mani - who made the majority of the mess-ups. Given the struggle of the rest of the batters, Minnu's dropped catches didn't prove too costly for the side. However, Kapp, who had earlier misjudged her diving effort to save a boundary, put down a straightforward chance at deep midwicket to offer a life to Henry on 13. The West Indian went on to add 49 runs in the next 17 deliveries she faced, and changed the momentum of the contest.

@B3$

Saima Thakor may had quite a busy day on the field, with either the ball chasing her or the other way around. Yet, on a day when pacers had a big role to play, with conditions allowing troubling the batters with the moving ball, Saima didn't get to bowl a single delivery. No explanation was offered as to why the option of using one of India's top pacers wasn't exercised, but Kranti Goud made sure her absence wasn't felt.

Even as Goud had served as a net bowler with UPW earlier, her ability came to skipper Deepti Sharma's notice during the domestic match between Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. The way she got to seam the ball around impressed her, and the note was shared with the UPW team management ahead of the auction.

What impressed Deepti then was on show against Delhi Capitals. Kranti made a mark by dismissing both the batters of the most dangerous opening pair in WPL - Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma - in the powerplay; the former's dismissal being the more impressive one with Lanning getting beaten and cleaned up.

That wasn't it. She returned for another spell and broke the back of DC's optimistic charge towards the chase by ending the stay of Jess Jonassen and Jemimah Rodrigues, the most impressive of their batters, in the 15th over. Even as Henry would've been the key architect of UPW's victory, Goud's returns of 4 for 25 are unlikely to go unnoticed, much like the skill and accuracy she put on display.

Over the last three years, even as results haven't gone their way as often as they would've liked, UP Warriorz has been the standout franchise in pushing Indian domestic cricketers to the deep end more often than any other team. They've relied heavily on them to come good, and time and again seen the lesser-established talents steal the show amidst the galaxy of stars. Just like Saima did last season and just like Henry did in the first innings, Goud has announced her arrival in the big league

@B4$

For the past few years, Shweta Sehrawat has been among the most promising young batters in Indian cricket. However, despite several chances, she hasn't quite made a mark for herself in the big league of WPL. Against DC, she promised to show that she had levelled up, and got going by thumping Arundhati Reddy down the ground for a six. Two balls later, a streaky boundary followed which clearly didn't leave the senior pacer too impressed. She managed to cut short Sehrawat's innings in that over itself with an incoming delivery that cleaned her up, but she wasn't done with a celebration. Unprovoked, she charged at the young batter and aggressively offered her a send-off.

The cause for the abrupt burst of anger towards a significantly younger player remains unknown. Nonetheless, almost in comical karmic fashion, a few hours later, Seharawat found her opportunity to pay back. When it was Reddy's turn to bat, she slashed her first ball straight into Sehrawat's hands at point and the youngster returned favours while celebrating the dismissal with a mouthful of words thrown at Reddy.

Whether it was a heat-of-the-moment aggression or this rivalry has some history is anybody's guess. Either way, for entertainment or otherwise, unfiltered emotional expressions in live sports are always welcome.

@B5$

When plans are not panning out the way they should, Deepti Sharma relies on the golden arm of Grace Harris, one that according to her proves handy in breaking settled partnerships. But on Saturday, she lobbed the ball to the offspinner to bowl the fairly low-stakes last over of the innings. With 34 to get and three wickets in hand, realistically, the contest had slipped out of Capitals' control.

If there was any hope, it was crushed in the first ball of the over itself with Niki Prasad's hard slog only reaching the hands of the deep mid wicket fielder. With mere formalities to complete and some Net Run Rate to gain thereafter, Grace floated the next delivery outside off and Reddy drove it to the point fielder. The burst of anger by Sehrawat at the batter may have distracted the attention from the fact that Harris was on a hat-trick, but the wait for that celebration too didn't last long either. The next delivery, No 11 Minnu Mani hit one back at the bowler, who fumbled at first but held on to the catch to become only the third bowler in WPL history to bag a hat-trick. And with that, sealed UPW's maiden win of the season.