UP Warriorz faced their second consecutive home defeat on Thursday, losing to Mumbai Indians, who chased down a target of 151 with ease. This loss significantly diminishes UP Warriorz’s chances of reaching the playoffs. However, a bright spot for the team was the performance of Australian player Georgia Voll. Joining the team just a week prior as a replacement for Chamari Athapaththu, Voll quickly made her presence felt.
Voll, who had previously shown her talent in India with the national team, impressed in only her second Women’s Premier League match. The powerful all-rounder hit a rapid 55 runs off 33 balls, including 12 fours, giving Warriorz a powerful start. Unfortunately, the rest of the batting lineup couldn’t maintain the momentum, and the team was restricted to a modest total of 150 for 9.
Despite the team’s loss, Voll is thrilled with her early impact in the tournament. “These past couple of months have been incredibly exciting, beyond what I could have imagined,” Voll shared. “It’s been a whirlwind, and getting the call to come here as a replacement was fantastic. I even had to leave my apartment renovation to my dad and brother, which is a bonus!”
“I received the call last Saturday, and then it was just waiting to travel. I unfortunately missed the state WNCL final, which was disappointing, but I was very excited to join the WPL. My first game was disappointing as I didn’t contribute to the team’s success. Although I performed better today, it wasn’t enough for a win.”
UP Warriorz changed their strategy by including two overseas batters in the opening positions for the first time this season. While this seemed promising initially, with Grace Harris struggling to find her form, the middle order collapsed under pressure to maintain the strong start. Voll remains optimistic about her teammates’ future performances.
“The players will be disappointed, as no one aims to underperform. Everyone is working hard in training, and it just hasn’t clicked together yet. We are a relatively young team, and these experiences will be valuable moving forward. They are undoubtedly frustrated with their lack of contribution, but I believe success is just around the corner.”
Towards the end of the Warriorz’s innings, Mumbai Indians were penalized for slow over-rate. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur argued with the umpire, and Sophie Ecclestone of Warriorz also faced Kaur’s frustration when she intervened.
Voll found the over-rate penalty situation somewhat amusing. “I was a bit surprised by the reaction, it was actually quite funny to watch. It was about the over-rate. I think Harman wasn’t happy about having only three fielders outside the circle instead of four. But they were about seven minutes behind schedule, so I’m not sure why she was so upset.”
Amelia Kerr of Mumbai Indians provided more detail about the incident. “I was trying to calm things down. Harman and Sophie were getting a bit heated. They are both passionate and competitive, while I am more relaxed, so I tried to joke with them and defuse the tension.”
“It was due to the over-rate. We were slow to start the over, and she was questioning why we couldn’t start earlier as we were ready and waiting. However, the clock clearly showed we were behind time. We need to improve our over-rate as a team because later in the competition, having fewer fielders outside the circle can really benefit the batting team. It’s a team responsibility to be quicker between overs, not just the captain’s.”
Kerr, who had earlier taken five wickets and caused the Warriorz’s batting collapse, then opened the innings for Mumbai Indians for the first time in three seasons. Despite scoring only 10 runs off 13 balls, this could indicate a potential shift in her batting position in future matches.
“It was a good opportunity to open the batting. It didn’t work out this time, but for New Zealand and other teams, I usually bat at number three, which is similar to opening. It also allows us to have Yastika in the middle order as a left-hander… We’ll see what happens, but it’s a nice option.”
