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WPL weekly star-tracker (Jul 29): India suffer Asia Cup heartbreak!

By Mumbai Indians

It wasn’t the best of weeks if you happen to be an Indian cricket fan. Against the odds, against the expectations, the Indian Women suffered a massive heartbreak in the final of the Asia Cup against Sri Lanka. Given how dominant India were through the tournament makes it all the more difficult to digest. But we can trust Girls in Blue to bounce back hard, and they’ve show us how deadly they can be when they rise from adversity. Okay, in other news, the latest edition of The Hundred is here, and a bunch of our stars have slready started making waves. Dive in..

Women’s Asia Cup 2024

Harmanpreet Kaur: She can hold her head up high. She marshalled her troops well and fought right until the end during Sri Lanka’s historic chase. With the bat though, she rested herself against Nepal, did not get to bat against Bangladesh in the semi-final, and then in the final, chipped in with an 11-ball 11 and fell while trying to up the ante.

Pooja Vastrakar: A pretty mid series this by her lofty standards. She too was rested against Nepal, bagged a wicket in her tidy bowling spell against Bangladesh, got just six balls to face at the death in the final, where she was unbeaten on five runs, but then couldn’t quite make a breakthrough with the ball, as the SL batters went on a rampage.

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The Hundred

Issy Wong (Birmingham Pheonix): She’s warming up.. In the two games she’s played thus far, she hasn’t quite gotten the chance to go big. She’s bowled just the five balls in both games, and hasn’t been among the wickets. Yet. YET. We know the superstar she is, and we know it’s only a matter of time before a big one comes through.

Chloe Tryon (Southern Brave): Against London Spirit, she started off in style with the bat, finishing the innings strongly with a 13-ball 20 to help the Southern Brave get past the 150-run mark. She’s coming in on the back of some fine form in the series against India, and would be itching to continue her purple patch.

Shabnim Ismail (Welsh Fire): At her deadly best, Shabmin hit the ground running, having the Manchester Originals in a real knot as she zipped through her 20 balls conceding just 13 runs. In the second game against Oval Invincibles, while defending an under-par 117, she got her side off to a dream start, getting the dangerous Lauren Winfield-Hill nicking off for a second-ball duck.

Hayley Matthews (Welsh Fire): She’s been batting at number three for Fire, a departure from her usual opening position. But she’s yet to light it up, having bagged a couple of single-digit scores in the two games she’s played so far. With the ball though, she played a major part in triggering Manchester Originals’ collapse, cleaning up Eve Jones in what was a tidy spell of 20 balls, 23 runs.

Nat Sciver-Brunt (Trent Rockets): The captain playing a captain’s knock! A 34-ball 36 as she anchored the innings and ensured the Rockets finished with a strong 123/5 against the Northern Superchargers. Oh, and in typical Nat style of doing it all, she bagged a couple of wickets too in her 17-ball spell to seal the win.