WPL 2023

After Hayley took three wickets to be the standout bowler in bundling out Bangalore for 155 in 18.4 overs, she led the chase from the front with 77 not out off 38 balls, hitting 13 fours and a six. Nat, on the other hand, was the perfect partner to Hayley by smashing 55 not out off 29 balls, including nine fours and a six.

After winning the toss, Smriti said spin all-rounder Shreyanka Patil replaces Asha Shobana in their playing eleven after their 60-run loss to Delhi Capitals at the same venue on Sunday. "It looks like a good wicket to bat on. We had a chat and we want to stick to basics first instead of trying to post a big total. One of the top four must bat long to take the game to 170+ total."

Grace Harris hit a brilliant 26-ball 59* to pull off a sensational three-wicket win for the Warriorz. Kiran Navgire, too, played an important support act with a composed 43-ball 53. Chasing 170, the UP Warriorz stuttered to 35/3 in the Powerplay. GG pacer Kim Garth put on a masterclass in swing bowling. She provided GG a perfect start as she had the dangerous Alyssa Healy.

Meg was involved in a brilliant 162-run opening partnership off 87 balls with Shafali as they set the base for Delhi to post a massive 223/2 in 20 overs. Tara Norris then took the competition's first five-fer to restrict Bangalore to 163/8. "It was a great atmosphere out there and happy to get the win. Shafali was playing amazing out there. It was a lot of fun. We were smiling a lot of the time. That's the great thing about these competitions."

After a brilliant 162-run opening partnership between Shafali Verma and captain Meg Lanning followed by a strong finish from Marizanne Kapp and Jemimah Rodrigues propelled Delhi to a massive 223/2, Tara was the chief architect of Bangalore's collapse from 89/2 to 96/7. She ended up picking 5/29 in her four overs as Bangalore could make 163/8 in their 20 overs, giving Delhi their first win of the competition.

While Shafali top-scored with 84 off 45 balls, Meg was fantastic in her 72 off 43 balls. Marizanne finished with an unbeaten 39 off 17 balls, while Jemimah was not out on 22 off 15 balls to post the second-highest score in Women's T20 franchise cricket. Pushed into batting first, the carnage from Shafali and Meg began in the second over when three boundaries were hit off Megan Schutt.

But the twist in the tale came when Deandra said through her social media accounts that she was all fine. "Get well soon from what if I may ask?" she wrote on her Instagram story. Later, she took to Twitter and wrote, "I really appreciate all the messages but truth be told I'm recovering from nothing but the Holy Ghost anointing thank you #GodIsGood #GodIsInControl."

"This is a great opportunity for the women cricketers, to be at such a high-profile tournament with so much investment, I think it is going to be a massive lift for the world of women's cricket, not just in India. The way it has been set up and the profile of the tournament, the experience this country has with the men's IPL, and if they can make the most of it, Indian women's cricket is definitely going to grow quite a lot," coach Lewis said.

Kaur's historic fifty powered Mumbai Indians to an imposing 207 for five in 20 overs. Apart from Harmanpreet, Amelia Kerr (45 not out off 24) and Hayley Matthews (47 off 31) also played valuable knocks for MI. Chasing a huge total, Gujarat batters had immense pressure on Gujarat and they crumbled under that. With Mooney getting injured in the first over, they were already staring down the barrel.

Yesterday, when I reached the hotel from airport, I saw big boards with 'Aali Re' written alongside photographs of Harmanpreet Kaur, Pooja Vastrakar, and Yastika Bhatia (of Mumbai Indians). This is the first change as I had never seen hoardings of women cricketers in India. I have seen outside, Hoardings are there in Mumbai and advertising looks beautiful in the whole stretch.