Lanning, Litchfield's fifties power UPW to 187/8 against MI despite Kerr's last-over magic in WPL 2026 clash

Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 17 (ANI): Meg Lanning and Phoebe Litchfield helped the UP Warriorz (UPW) set a challenging total of 187/8 in 20 overs against the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Mumbai Indians in the 10th fixture of the ongoing Women's Premier League (WPL) 2026 match.
After being put in to bat first by the Mumbai Indians, UPW lost an early wicket in the form of Kiran Navgire as MI's Nicola Carey (1-38 in four overs) got rid of the opener for a golden duck. However, the UPW captain Meg Lanning (70 off 45 balls, including 11 boundaries and two sixes) stitched a 119-run partnership off 74 balls alongside Australian compatriot Phoebe Litchfield (61 runs off 37 balls, including seven boundaries and three sixes).
The massive partnership took UPW to 124/2 in 13 overs before MI's Amanjot Kaur (1-38 in three overs) claimed Litchfield's wicket.
Soon after, Lanning also lost her wicket as Hayley Matthews (1-40 in three overs) took the only wicket of the match.
With her 70-run innings, Lanning now has the most fifty-plus scores in the history of WPL. She now has 11 fifty-plus scores in 32 WPL innings, followed by MI's Harmanpreet Kaur, who has 10 fifty-plus scores in 30 innings. Nat Sciver-Brunt also has 10 fifty-plus totals in 32 WPL innings.
New batters Harleen Deol (25 runs off 16 balls, including two boundaries and one six) and Chloe Tryon (21 runs off 13 balls, including one four and one six) joined hands and formed a 41-run partnership off 26 balls to push UP's total to 177/4 in 18.1 overs before Nat Sciver-Brunt (2-22 in four overs) scalped Tryon's wicket. Sciver-Brunt, giving nothing away, claimed another wicket in the penultimate over as she got rid of Shweta Sehrawat for a golden duck.
Amelia Kerr, bowling the final over of the innings, wreaked havoc as she gave just two runs and claimed three wickets (Harleen Deol, Sophie Ecclestone and Deepti Sharma) and kept UP to surpass the 190-run mark and finish with 187/8 in 20 overs. Kerr finished with the figures of 3-28 in four overs.
With her three-wicket haul, Kerr became the first player in WPL history to reach the 50-wicket milestone. She now has 50 wickets in 34 matches at an excellent average of 17.26. She is seven wickets ahead of the second-placed Hayley Matthews, who has 43 wickets in 31 WPL matches.
The Mumbai Indians' power-packed batting lineup will back themselves to chase the 188-run target and clinch their third win of the WPL 2026 tournament. (ANI)