Matthews, Kerr power MI to six-wicket win; UPW playoff hopes all but over

Lucknow: Hayley Matthews smashed a 46-ball 68, while Amelia Kerr registered her best figures of 5/38 as Mumbai Indians stormed to a six-wicket win over UP Warriorz in the Women's Premier League here on Thursday.

The former champions chased down 151 in just 18.3 overs, boosting their net run rate and jumping to second in the table with eight points, two behind leaders Delhi Capitals with a game in hand.

This was UP Warriorz's third consecutive defeat, leaving them on the brink of elimination.

Chasing a modest 151 on a dew-laden Ekana Stadium, MI lost Amelia Kerr (10) early, but Matthews took charge, hammering a 35-ball fifty in a match-winning 92-run stand with Nat Sciver-Brunt, the partnership coming off just 58 balls.

She played fluently off the back foot, especially through the off-side, and reached her second half-century of the season against UPW with a crisp boundary between point and cover-point.

She dismantled Chinelle Henry with a towering six over deep midwicket before sweeping Sophie Ecclestone for back-to-back boundaries as MI raced to 50/1 in the powerplay.

Though UPW skipper Deepti Sharma pulled off a stunning catch to break the partnership, dismissing Sciver-Brunt (37 from 23 balls), MI needed just 35 off 43 balls by then.

In the next over, Matthews tore into seamer Kranti Goud, smashing a boundary through deep cover before launching a six over deep backward square leg.

However, her explosive 46-ball 68, laced with eight fours and two sixes, came to an end in the same over.

But it was Yastika Bhatia (10 off six balls) who smashed UPW skipper Deepti Sharma for two boundaries in the penultimate over to seal the chase with nine balls to spare.

Earlier, opting to bowl, MI turned the game on its head with the New Zealand legspinner Kerr becoming the sixth player in WPL history to bag a fifer.

At 74/0 in 7.5 overs, they looked set for a 200-plus total, with Voll (50 off 29) blazing her maiden WPL fifty.

Voll, playing just her second game, attacked Kerr with four consecutive boundaries, using her feet aggressively after sent into her preferred opening slot.

However, MI struck back, taking three wickets in 14 balls.

Matthews removed Grace Harris (28) after being hit for a six, while Kerr dismissed Kiran Navgire (0) and Voll, who shuffled across for a scoop but was bowled by Sciver-Brunt’s slower ball, in the 15th over.

Kerr delivered the knockout punch in the final over, picking up two wickets, including the in-form Chinelle Henry (6), who had smashed a huge six before falling into MI’s trap.

UPW crumbled from 74/0 to 150/9, losing nine wickets for just 76 runs in the last 12.1 overs.