Beyond the headlines: MI's rigid powerplay, Harris finds form, & a breakout India spinner!
Beyond the headlines; MI v/s UPW, Game 11 of the WPL
The Mumbai Indians beat the UP Warriorz by 8 wickets tonight, as Nat Sciver-Brunt & Hayley Matthews eased the 2023 champions home while chasing a total of just 142.
But, what happened beyond the headlines (especially in the first innings)?
MI’s powerplay bowlers could learn a thing or two from Chinelle Henry’s simple lines and lengths, UPW’s specialist opener Grace Harris finally got played as an opener, Sanskriti Gupta had a breakout performance for MI, & Shweta Sehrawat is somehow improving in UPW’s easily collapsible middle order.
MI’s powerplay bowlers could learn from Chinelle Henry
Written by Aksay Ram M. You can follow him on Twitter, Instagram & YouTube.
In the first innings, MI had a plan to target the off and middle stumps to cramp UPW’s struggling top order. But, the UPW batters - and particularly the rejuvenated Grace Harris - just shuffled across to the leg stump and hit the ball across the line to the legside.
MI should have shifted their line to further outside off/off-stump, forcing UPW’s batters to hit the ball outside their eye line. Nat Sciver Brunt showed the way against Kiran Navgire in the first over, and the shorter wide ball got her caught at mid on within 3 balls.
However, MI didn’t stick with the strategy, and kept feeding Grace Harris and Vrinda Dinesh balls in the comfortable off and middle line. In all, they bowled 24 deliveries along these lines in the powerplay, with figures of 47 runs (78% of the PP total) including six 4s, two 6s, & 0 wickets. Meanwhile, in the 12 balls that targetted the outside off/off stump line, MI conceded only three 4s, plus the wicket of Navgire.
Hayley Matthews is a great example of this mistake. In her first over (MI’s 4th) who stuck to a middle stumps line and gave away 20 runs. She fixed that mistake, bowling shorter and further off in her second over (MI’s 6th), and gave away just 7 runs. But, it shouldn’t take so long to learn a lesson.
MI’s bowlers could take a lesson from UPW’s Chinelle Henry who ended the second innings powerplay with figures of 3-0-11-0. Henry kept it simple, bowling out swingers on the off/outside off line, and allowed the movement off the ball to take it away from the MI batters.
(An interesting statistic on the broadcast pointed out that Henry was getting 2.3 degrees of swing in Bengaluru, compared to a tournament average of 1.6!)
When Mathews (the batter) tried to come down the track, Henry used her heavy shoulder to extract bounce with back of the length deliveries. This simple game plan saw Henry come out of PP with 12 dots in 3 overs. Meanwhile, MI only bowled 12 dots in their entire 6-over period.
MI’s middle overs spinners made up for the powerplay mistakes, but they could’ve been easily punished against a stronger batting side.
Data from ESPNcricinfo, and via personal tracking.
UPW finally lean on Harris' opening experience
Written by Ritwika Dhar. You can follow her on Twitter.
After Vrinda Dinesh scored just 40 runs in 4 innings at a SR of 100 as a UPW opener this season, the coaches finally decided to use their specialist opener - Grace Harris - tonight. It worked brilliantly as Harris scored 45 (26).
Ironically, Kiran Navgire’s first over wicket brought out Dinesh immediately anyway, and she played her role as Harris’ foil well. Their second-wicket partnership was worth 79 off 52 deliveries, the biggest of the night for UPW.
Harris' credentials as an opener in T20s are well established. Before this match, she had opened in 103 of her 186 T20 innings, scoring 2,414 runs - accounting for 60.5% of her career T20 runs - at a strike rate of 133.07. Interestingly, she scores at 154.10 SR as the second opener (as she played tonight), compared to 126.11 SR as the first.
In the second over, Harris faced Shabnim Ismail. After a couple of deliveries, the Aussie scooped a ball over fine leg that forced the South African pacer to change her lengths. Harris capitalised on the power shift, smashing three consecutive 4s in the mid-on and mid-wicket regions.
Similarly, Harris took full advantage of Hayley Matthews, plundering 20 runs off the fourth over including three 4s and a 6 on the legside. At the 4-over mark, UPW were sitting pretty at 48/1. But the scoring rate dropped off as the Aussie only faced 3 more balls in the powerplay, and UPW ended the period at 62/1.
MI’s smarter lines and lengths - courtesy their middle over spinners - increased the squeeze, and Harris got out via a lofted shot to Ismail at the long-on boundary in the 10th over. In a sign of the pressure UPW’s batters had come under, Harris been dropped by the same fielder in the same position via a similar shot in the 9th over.
But, despite her continued middle overs struggles this year (she has scored just 16 off 17 in the period from 3 innings this season), her opening blitz was an impressive display of taking advantage of the situation.
With the MI bowlers keen on an off/middle stump line, Harris scored 44 of her 45 runs on the leg side. She was particularly dominant with the pull shot, accumulating 18 runs with an impressive 84% control.
Overall, Harris scores at an SR of 123.4 during the powerplay, but accelerates to an SR of 148.2 during the 6 to 10 over period. But since last year, those numbers don’t hold true. In 2023 she struck at an SR of 171.2 between the 6th and 10th overs, but in 2024 that decreased to just 128.4. Today, she add 7 off 7 after the powerplay, with just one boundary.
UPW might have solved their opener problem. Now they just need to figure out what to do with a middle order that couldn’t capitalise on tonight’s fast start.
Data from ESPNcricinfo
Sanskriti Gupta makes her mark for MI
Written by Krithika Venkatesan, who works as a talent scout with RCB. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
MI’s Sanskriti Gupta has often been compared to RCB’s Kanika Ahuja for her similar skill set, and made an impact tonight with figures of 2-0-11-2, including the wickets of Vrinda Dinesh & Tahlia McGrath.
Gupta is coming off a successful season in the Senior One Day Trophy in January 2025, where she took 19 wickets to help Madhya Pradesh pick up the trophy, and the learnings are showing.
Gupta’s approach is straightforward. She consistently targets the stumps with deliveries around a good length, & her main variation is a quicker yorker with a seam-up release like a medium pacer. When conditions help, she can get movement with the new ball while bowling those yorkers, making it more difficult for the batters.
In today's match, Gupta delivered 7 balls in the good-length area, while her wicket of Tahlia McGrath came from a quicker yorker, clocked at 95.1 kph. Her average speed in the 4 deliveries before that ball was just 83.3 kph. This is her go-to plan against right-handers.
Against left-handers, Gupta usually comes around the wicket and targets a back-of-a-length area at middle and leg. Since her deliveries don’t generate much turn, they skid through, making it difficult for the batters.
When Gupta first started as a spinner, her deliveries were majorly flat. However, since the Senior One Day Trophy, she has improved a lot and has learnt to slow down, adding more loop to the ball. Notably, she has recently added wide yorkers to her arsenal, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see her execute one in the upcoming matches.
Data collected by Krithika.
Sehrawat is thriving in UPW’s broken middle order
Written by Krithika Venkatesan, who works as a talent scout with RCB. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Shweta Sehrawat is not a new name in the Indian domestic circuit. In 2022 she earned her place in the India U19 squad via a standout season. She went on to become the 2022 U19 World Cup’s highest run-scorer (297 runs), cementing her reputation as one of India’s potential stars.
However, her success was short-lived once senior teams began exposing her weaknesses. While she performed well against weaker opponents, she struggled against stronger teams. For example, in senior T20s, she averages just 2 against Karnataka in 2 matches & 10 against Mumbai in 4 matches.
Teams would make Sehrawat play to the leg side, particularly using the sweep. Her grip and her backfoot got in the way while attempting the shot, and her left elbow bent in a way that restricted her access to desired areas. As such, she ended up directing her sweep shots more towards midwicket than square leg.
In response, she favoured the offside and was particularly strong through the covers. 29% of her runs came in the region during that successful U19 World Cup campaign.
To survive in cricket, Sehrawat had to alter her technique. While she is still a work in progress, she has made huge improvements. She opens her stance more, and reaches for the ball away from her body. Her elbow and head remain steadier upon contact, allowing her to connect cleanly and complete her shots effectively.
In the 2025 WPL, Sehrawat has notched up 114 runs at a strike rate of 120 for a constantly collapsing UPW middle order. Notably, 65% of her runs have come on her weaker leg side.
In today's match, Sehrawat comfortably swept Hayley Matthews for a boundary behind square leg on the third ball she faced. She also managed to take an outside-off delivery from Amelia Kerr and sweep it over deep midwicket for a 6. Overall, she scored 17 of her 19 runs on the leg side.
While it may not have been the most impactful cameo tonight, it is a big step forward for the youngster.
Data collected by Krithika.