WPL 2026, Match 10: Lanning, Litchfield guide UP Warriorz to second win over Mumbai Indians

The first of the double headers in the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2026 on Saturday, January 17 witnessed a clash between Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz at the DY Patil Stadium. MI won the toss and elected to bowl first. The team made two changes - Hayley Matthews came in for Shabnim Ismail who was rested, and Kranthi Reddy made her debut replacing Poonam Khemnar. Meanwhile, UP went in with the same team.

MI struck in the first over as Nicola Carey clean bowled Kiran Navgire for a golden duck. Phoebe Litchfield joined her captain Meg Lanning and the duo steadied the ship before launching their onslaught. Lanning was the aggressor of the two as UP ended the powerplay at 56/1.

The Australians carried on with the momentum and sought scoring opportunities regularly. Lanning brought up her 11th WPL fifty in 35 balls as the MI bowlers lacked incision.

The team crossed the 100-run mark in the 12th over as UP continued attacking. Litchfield also reached her half century in the next over, her second in the league. The 13th over yielded 20 runs for the left-hander, but it also witnessed her dismissal for 61(37) as Amanjot Kaur provided MI with a much-needed breakthrough. Notably, the second-wicket partnership lasted 74 balls for 119 runs and it was the second-highest for UP for any wicket. 

Lanning could not carry on for long after Litchfield's dismissal as the 33-year-old was scalped by Matthews for a fantastic 70(45). Harleen Deol (25 off 16) and Chloe Tryon (21 off 13) took the reins in their hands to provide the late flourish and the pair did so. The lower order, however, could not contribute much as Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amelia Kerr ran through them.

Kerr, with Deepti Sharma's wicket off the last ball, became the first bowler to reach 50 wickets in the league. Meanwhile, UP ended their innings at 187/8. The Kiwi spinner was the best bowler for MI with figures of 3/28.

MI began the chase with positive intent, but lost Sajeevan Sajana (10 off 6) in the third over. Her opening partner Hayley Matthews too went back to the pavilion soon after as MI were 23/2 in the fourth over. The UP bowlers appeared to know what lengths and lines would work best and so succeeded in stifling the batters. Sciver-Brunt (15 off 12), in her quest to up the scoring rate, succumbed to an attacking shot.

MI skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (18 off 21) was now joined by Carey (6 off 10) and both the batters could not do much with the bat today. MI found themselves at 69/5 in the 11th over with the prospect of victory looking improbable.

But, Kerr and Amanjot combined for an 83-run partnership off 45 balls which brought them back into the game. The pair, with nothing to lose, went after the bowling and scored some quick runs. Suddenly, it seemed like the bowlers were not getting much help and it could be MI all the way now.

But, with the equation coming down 37 runs from 12 balls, Shikha Pandey came on to bowl the penultimate over. The Indian veteran gave away just one run off the first two balls and the pressure was back on Amanjot who was facing the third delivery. The right-hander hit one straight towards Pandey who grabbed a sharp catch. The over went for only three runs as UP were almost home.

Kerr could not do a miracle in the last over and UP won the match by a margin of 22 runs. For UP, Pandey was the standout bowler with figures of 2/30. Lanning, for her brilliant innings, was adjudged as the Player of the Match.