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WPL weekly star-tracker (Oct 28): Pooja, Saika roar back in style!

By Mumbai Indians

As the dust around the Women’s T20 World Cup settles and we move into the Indian home season, let’s quickly dive in and keep our weekly tab of what our MI girls are up to on the field. There’s the whole deal, from international cricket where the India Women hope to regain their touch, to some high-intensity domestic cricket, to the start of the WBBL..

India Women vs New Zealand Women

Harmanpreet Kaur: After missing the first ODI owing to injury, she was back at the helm for the second game, and started off strongly with the bat as well, setting the platform for the 260-run chase with a 34-ball 23. Alas, India kept losing wickets at the other end, and once she fell as well, it was curtains.

Amelia Kerr: The Player of the Series, the Player of the Match in the World Cup Final, Aapli Mumbai-Kerr surely brought her form along to India, but sadly while getting to her four-fer with the ball, she injured herself and in the process was ruled out of the series. Come back stronger, Melie!  

Yastika Bhatia: Back to batting at number three in the first ODI, Yasti wasted no time in making it her own once again, with a stroke-filled 43-ball 37 to lay the foundation for India’s middle-order. In the second ODI, she fell to the pace of Lea Tahuhu in a bid to up the ante.

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Senior Women’s T20 Trophy

Humairaa Kaazi (Mumbai): The Mumbai captain is leading from the front. As an opener, she’s notched up a solid 48 against J&K, a 21 against Tamil Nadu, and a 19 against Odisha, all three in wins.

Fatima Jaffer (Mumbai): Wickets, at a miserly economy, Fatima’s been the star of Mumbai’s bowling in their winning streak. Two against J&K, one against Tamil Nadu and four against Odisha, all at under six-an-over.  

Keerthana B (Tamil Nadu): Defending a mere 96, Tamil Nadu needed a miracle with the ball against Gujarat, and it was Keerthana’s mystery spin that gave them just that. 4-1-10-2!

Sajana Sajeevan (Kerala): In a chase of 147 against Railways, she fought hard in a single-handed knock of 40 off 33 balls. Alas, victory wasn’t to be hers. She made up for it against Haryana, giving the innings some impetus with her cameo of 14 runs, taking them to what eventually ended up being a match-winning score.

Saika Ishaque (Bengal): She’s back to being her unplayable self after a slight blip in form last season. This week’s resume boasts of four wickets against Jharkhand and a stunning spell of 1/5 against Manipur.

Priyanka Bala (Bengal): Three good knocks: 10(11) against Baroda, 12*(15) against Manipur and 13(14) against Jharkhand, coming in the lower-order and ensuring Bengal get to finish their innings on a high.

Pooja Vastrakar (Madhya Pradesh): The pro-hitter is back! When she connects them cleanly, there’s barely anybody in world cricket who can match up to that level of striking. Five fours and three sixes in her 23-ball knock of 47 against Bihar batted them out of the contest. Against Punjab, she came in at number four and smacked a 30-ball 37, ensuring another big win.

Jintimani Kalita (Assam): Although she might not have been among the wickets, she’s produced some clinical stuff with the new ball, keeping it tight in the powerplay, ensuring Assam picked up wins over Rajasthan and Bihar in the process.