Mumbai Indians captain Harmanpreet Kaur pulled off a sensational one-handed catch to dismiss UP Warriorz opener Devika Vaidya in their Women’s Premier League match on Saturday.
Chasing 128, Vaidya looked for a drive off a Hayley Matthews delivery in the 2nd over and got a thick edge to it. Kaur who was in the slip dived instinctively and pulled off a blinder with her right hand as UPW lost their first wicket for just 2 runs.
The catch ultimately went in vain as the Warriorz snapped the Mumbai Indians’ winning run in the with a five-wicket victory, after the Uttar Pradesh side extracted more out of a tricky pitch.
WHAT. A. CATCH 🔥🔥@mipaltan wanted an early wicket and they have got one, courtesy of a sharp catch from captain @ImHarmanpreet 👏👏
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/6bZ3042C4S #TATAWPL | #MIvUPW pic.twitter.com/5ArBZjTxRq
— Women’s Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 18, 2023
On a surface where the ball turned a lot and was also holding up, England’s star left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone (3/15) led the way with her excellent bowling as UP Warriorz bundled out Mumbai Indians for 127.
When MI batted, as many as 18 of the 20 overs were bowled by spinners, a WPL record.
In reply, UPW faced some obstacles before competing the task with three balls to spare. Grace Harris (39) and Tahlia McGrath (38) were the main contributors with the bat for UPW, while Deepti Sharma (13 not out) and player of the match Ecclestone (16 not out) also played vital knocks.
Issy Wong picked up the big wicket of UPW captain Alyssa Healy (8), trapping her in front of the wicket. The on-field umpire was not convinced despite the huge appeal and MI’s move to go for a referral proved to be the right call, leaving the Australian star with no option but to walk back into the dugout.
Defending a small but tricky total on this surface, MI found another reason to celebrate when Yastika Bhatia completed a fantastic one-handed diving catch behind the wicket off the bowling of Nat Sciver-Brunt to send back Kiran Navgire for 12, for which she consumed 16 balls.
UPW were in a spot of bother at 27 for 3 in the beginning of seventh over, when Grace Harris got off the mark with a boundary.
Even as MI picked up three wickets quickly but they were also guilty of dropping three catches, which proved to be crucial in the end.