In a riveting post-match press conference following UP Warriorz’s commanding 22-run victory over Mumbai Indians in WPL 2026 Match 10 on January 17 at DY Patil Stadium, fielding coach Saurabh Bandekar highlighted the team’s peaking form. This win marked UP Warriorz’s second consecutive triumph, making them only the second team, after Delhi Capitals, to defeat Mumbai Indians twice in league stages, both under skipper Meg Lanning’s leadership.
Lanning’s explosive 70 off 45 balls, her record 11th WPL half-century, earned her Player of the Match honours and propelled UPW to 187/8, a total Munbai Indians fell short of at 165/6 despite a gritty 83-run stand between Amanjot Kaur (41 off 24) and Amelia Kerr (49* off 28).
Bandekar, stepping in for the post-match briefing, emphasised the synergy across departments that has fueled this surge. UP Warriorz posted 187/8 after a dream 119-run second wicket stand between Lanning and Phoebe Litchfield (61 off 37), though Mumbai Indians bowlers fought back, Amelia Kerr’s 4-0-28-3 in the final over, and Nat Sciver-Brunt’s 4-0-22-2 restricted the damage. In the chase, UP Warriorz bowlers struck early, with Shikha Pandey (4-0-30-2), and others making things difficult for the MI batting unit.
Shikha Pandey’s stunning return catch to dismiss Amanjot in the 19th over sealed the deal, handing Mumbai Indians their third loss while they clung to second on the points table with 4 points from 5 games. “That’s a good time to peak for us, I would say that first,” Bandekar noted, underscoring the consistency driving their momentum as the tournament shifts to Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara from January 19.
“Going into Vadodara, I think what we’ve done really well in the last two games is that we’ve been consistent in terms of bowling, batting and fielding. That intensity has never dropped, even for a bit. So we just got to look to better that, nothing extra, I think we’ve ticked almost all the boxes there.”
Delving into squad versatility, Bandekar praised wicketkeeper Shweta Sehrawat’s emergence, a strategic tweak honed since last season. With Sehrawat not bowling, the team invested in her glovework to maximise her fielding prowess. “We’ve thought about it a lot. She’s a good fielder, and a great learner, so we didn’t have to work very hard with her, just some glove-work which wicketkeepers have naturally. But she’s a great learner, she picked it up really well, and we’re glad with what she’s doing right now for us.”
The victory’s magnitude wasn’t lost on him, especially against the defending champions who’d won a couple of WPL titles already “I mean, you’ve said it, they’re the defending champions, it’s huge for us and especially coming at the right time for us. There’s never a wrong time to peak, so yeah, I’m really happy and beating them twice will definitely boost the confidence in the team.”
As UP Warriorz builds on this double over Mumbai Indians Bandekar’s words, signal a side ready to challenge for the title in the 4th edition.
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