WPL: Retired out a day earlier, Harleen Deol fired UPW to first win with 39-ball 64 not out

NAVI MUMBAI: 24 hours can be a long time in sport. A day after she was retired out while batting on 47 off 36 balls in a debatable decision by UP Warriorz head coach Abhishek Nayar, a fired-up Harleen Deol cracked a scintillating 64 not out off just 39 balls, which included 12 gloriously-timed fours, to star in her team’s morale-boosting seven-wicket over the Mumbai Indians at the DY Patil Stadium on Thursday night. Not only did Harleen ‘troll’ Nayar, who was seen applauding her every shot, with her classy display, she also played a stellar role in UPW’s first win in WPL-2026 after three defeats. They are still at the bottom of the five-team table, but UPW will take heart from the win, while MI are at the second spot with two wins and an equal number of defeats.Starting off with her first three scoring shots being fours, the India batter kept peppering the off-side boundary-10 of her fours were in that direction. While she isn’t a power-hitter, the 27-year-old relies more on her sublime timing and wonderful ability to thread gaps in the field. Looking determined to prove her worth, Harleen, a part of India's 2025 ODI World Cup winning team, added 73 in 49 balls with Aussie Phoebe Litchfield (25, 22b, 2x4, 1x6) for the third wicket, and then 44* for the fourth wicket with South African allrounder Chloe Tryon (27 not out, 11b, 4x4, 1x6) in just 20 balls as UPW cantered home with 11 balls to spare. Besides striking some fine blows in the end to help UP reach the 162-run target, Tryon took two catches- the one of MI’s in-form captain Harmanpreet Kaur 916, 11b, 1x4, 1x6), a brilliant diving effort at square leg off leggie Asha Shobhana-proving to be decisive. Earlier, MI’s openers Amanjot Kaur (38, 33b, 7x4) and ‘keeper-bat Gunalan Kamalini (5, 12b) took 44 balls while adding 43, managing just 32 in the Powerplay-the lowest in WPL-2026 so far. UPW kept things tight, with both their pacers Shikha Pandey (1-25 in four overs) and Kranti Goud (0-28 in four overs), who was bowled out at the start, delivering a fine opening spell. Both Kaur, who at least got a few boundaries, and Kamlini, who looks out of place at this level, eventually holed out. Harmanpreet, currently the top run-getter in the fourth season of the Women’s Premier League, endured a rare failure. However, it was the perfect time for Sciver-Brunt, returning in this game after missing the last match due to illness, to show off her class. Taking the responsibility of steering MI to a good total on her broad shoulders, the England captain slammed a sublime 65 off 43 balls, with her knock adorned by nine fours and a six. Sciver-Brunt found an able ally in MI’s new recruit, Australian allrounder Nicola Carey, who smashed a quickfire 32 (20b, 5x4) as the duo added 85 off just 44 balls in a fourth wicket partnership which gave MI’s innings wings and fuel at the perfect time. The duo’s fireworks helped MI, who were crawling at 54 for two after 10 overs, plunder 93 off their last eight overs after they got just 68 off the first 12. They eventually managed to put up a par total of 161 for five in 20 overs. Letting it loose, the English/Aussie duo squeezed out 33 runs in two overs-the 15th and the 16th-to give some much-needed impetus to the MI innings. If Nat-Sciver smashed two fours (both savage pull shots) a six down the ground off Shobana, collecting 17 in the 15th over, Carey took four fours off Tryon in the 16th over.