Harleen Deol hit back with a 32-ball fifty after she was ‘retired out’ in the previous outing, a perfect answer to her critics.
The 27-year-old World Cup-winner smashed 3a 9-ball 64, with 12 strokes to
the boundary as she led UP Warriorz to a 7-wicket win over Mumbai Indians in the 2026 Women’s Premier League (WPL) at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.
WPL 2026: MI Vs UPW – Highlights
On Wednesday, Harleen was called back to the dugout during the WPL 2026 match between the UPW and Delhi Capitals. Harleen was on 47 off 36 balls when head coach Abhishek Nayar seemingly asked her to come off ahead of the 18th over as she became only the second player in WPL’s history to be ‘retired out’ after Gujarat Giants’ Ayushi Soni was brought off against Mumbai Indians on Tuesday.
So what was different?
“I got a little boundary balls, so I tried to convert it into boundaries. Sometimes it’s just your day – wherever you are thinking to hit, the ball comes there, it was that for me,” Harleen said after the match.
“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, first two games didn’t go my way. 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 more on timing basis,” she added.
UPW recorded their first victory of the season in four games, while the Mumbai Indians faced their second defeat in four matches.
She batted with renewed purpose and intent, collecting boundaries at will, including three in an over off the skilled Shabnim Ismail.
The standout aspect of Harleen’s innings was her proficiency in playing square of the wicket on the off-side and the effortless manner in which she accumulated her runs.
The India batter reached her fifty in the 15th over with a sweep off spinner Sanskriti Gupta. Two more fours followed in the same over, reducing the target to 29 off 24 balls with seven wickets remaining.
With Chloe Tryon (27 not out off 11) as her partner, Deol remained unbeaten to ensure the victory was secured smoothly.
Other Performers
Nat-Sciver Brunt (65 off 43 balls) showcased her renowned brute force to propel Mumbai Indians to 161 for five, following a rather lacklustre start to the innings. She then picked up two wickets – both UPW openers — Meg Lanning (25 off 26) and Kiran Navgire (10 off 12).
The opening pair of Amanjot Kaur (38 off 33) and G Kamalimi (5 off 12) struggled to get going on a slow pitch that favoured the spinners.
Sciver-Brunt and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (16 off 11) came together after the openers departed in successive overs.
With the score at 54 for two in 10 overs, Sciver-Brunt changed the course of the innings with her remarkable hitting.
Thanks to her exceptional knock, Mumbai Indians managed to post a competitive total, with 107 runs coming in the last 10 overs.
After Harmanpreet fell to a sweep shot off Asha Shobhana, Nicola Carey provided excellent support to Sciver-Brunt, who continued hitting boundaries at will.
The 17-run over from Shobhana provided much-needed momentum, with Sciver-Brunt smashing a couple of fours and a straight six.
(With inputs from Agencies)
