Navi Mumbai, Jan 15 (IANS) An unchanged UP Warriorz have won the toss and elected to bowl first against defending champions Mumbai Indians in the 2026 Women's Premier League (WPL) 2026 clash at the Dr. DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.

MI have steadied their WPL campaign with back-to-back wins after a narrow defeat in their opening game. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur has been central to the turnaround by striking consecutive half-centuries.

Meanwhile, UPW remain winless after slipping to another close defeat last night to Delhi Capitals (DC). After winning the toss, UPW captain Meg Lanning said, “Bowling first seems to have worked pretty well through this tournament because it gives us a good chance to get out there with the ball and hopefully put Mumbai under some pressure early.

“We feel like that (same playing eleven) gives us the best chance on this wicket in these conditions. Obviously, we haven't quite hit our straps yet, but we get another opportunity tonight. There's a lot of talent within this group. It's just, I guess, the challenge with anything you come into is trying to bring it all together and identify what their strengths are, and when you can use them best and how to get the best out of them.

“So that's been a challenge for me, but there's been a lot of learning for myself and the team. Tonight, we get the opportunity to go out there and hopefully improve on those. Just the usual -- go out there, enjoy yourselves, and back your skills. We've done a lot of things right. Obviously, we just haven't put it together for long enough. So hopefully tonight's the night,” she said.

MI skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said Nat Sciver-Brunt returns in place of a rested Hayley Matthews. “It's a great feeling, and hopefully keep it going in cricket the way we did in the World Cup. She (Carey) is someone who is contributing with both bat and ball; she is in form and should continue playing.

“Throughout this tournament, we have seen everybody scoring close to 180. This pitch, we played on, we played our first game. So that time, for six over or something, the ball was seaming up, hopefully it plays better, and we put up a total on the board,” she said.

Playing XIs:

Mumbai Indians: Gunalan Kamalini (wk), Amelia Kerr, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Amanjot Kaur, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Nicola Carey, Sajeevan Sajana, Sanskriti Gupta, Poonam Khemnar, Shabnim Ismail, and Triveni Vasistha

UP Warriorz: Kiran Navgire, Meg Lanning (captain), Phoebe Litchfield, Harleen Deol, Shweta Sehrawat (wk), Chloe Tryon, Deepti Sharma, Sophie Ecclestone, Asha Sobhana Joy, Shikha Pandey, and Kranti Gaud

--IANS

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