UP Warriorz’s win over defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their final Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 encounter saw Deepti Sharma’s girls end RCB’s campaign, handing them a brutal knockout blow which saw Smriti Mandhana and co.’s dreams of making it to the Playoffs being dashed.
In a high-scoring and thrilling encounter, it was RCB who put UP Warriorz into bat first with the Warriorz making the Bengaluru squad pay by putting up a mammoth 225/5. Although RCB got close, UP Warriorz held on to take a 12-run win and one of the stars with the bat for the Warriorz was Kiran Navgire, who’s explosive 46 built the platform for a huge total.
Navgire came in at No.3 after the dismissal of Grace Harris with Harris and Georgia Voll having given the team a flyer, being 77/0 in 7 overs. Navgire kept the momentum going for the Warriorz as a flurry of boundaries in her 16-ball stay saw the Warriorz reach 148/1 in 12 overs. Post game, Navgire spoke about the changes she’s brought into her batting style, her partnership with Voll and a MS Dhoni connection.
The veteran Indian batter from Pune spoke about how her big-hitting game is something she sees as an advantage for the team and the batting changes she has brought about to her game this season at the WPL.
“The strength I have, I need to use it for the team. I can hit big sixes and maintain the strike-rate which helps the team. The first two seasons (of the WPL) I was predominantly playing on the leg-side, but I have worked this season on the off-side as well, and the results are showing,” shared Navgire.
Navgire joined Georgia Voll in the eight over when Voll and Harris had given the Warriorz a strong start (77/1 in 7.1) and Navgire spoke about her partnership with Voll, what they discussed and on Voll’s incredible 99*.
“The innings Georgia Voll played, she backed her strength, played her shots. The conversation between the both of us was that we have gotten a good start, we need to convert it (into a big total). We wanted to take the game a bit deep and back our strengths and our shots. We wanted to finish the innings well,” said Navgire.
Navgire also spoke about former Indian captain MS Dhoni and how she has been looking up to him and tries to implement his style in her own game.
“Since 2011, I have been following MS Dhoni, the way he bats, the way he finishes the game, the way he clears the ground for the big sixes; I also want to bat that way, hit sixes like that and help my team win,” said Navgire.
It’s been a poor season for the Warriorz with them finishing their WPL 2025 campaign with three wins from their eight games with six points. Navgire highlighted how it’s important for the team to go back to the drawing board, see where they went wrong and start well next season.
“When we go back from here, we will work on those things in which we failed in a few games, to see what happened. We will all sit together and practice once again and start well,” signed off Navgire.
(Quotes sourced from video posted by WPLT20 on Instagram)
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