Powered by Chinelle Henry's record-equalling half-century and four-wicket hauls from Kranti Goud and Grace Harris including the first hat-trick of the season, UP Warriorz (UPW) got their TATA Women's Premier League (WPL) 2025 campaign off the mark with a 33-run win over Delhi Capitals (DC) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

UP Warriorz's victory also marked the first time in eight matches this season that a team has successfully defended a target.

Henry single-handedly pulled UPW out of trouble with a 23-ball 62, thus also equalling the record for the fastest fifty (18 balls) in TATA WPL history. Chasing 178, Jemimah Rodrigues' fighting 56(35) went in vain. But UPW youngster Kranti Goud's 4-25 and Grace Harris' 4-15 including a hat-trick to end the game ensured that the 'chase and win' streak was broken.

Earlier, DC captain Meg Lanning won the all-important toss and, once again, elected to field.

Both UPW openers Vrinda Dinesh and Kiran Navgire - who scored a rapid fifty against DC only three days ago - rode their luck early on. Minnu Mani put down a tough chance at cover in the second over, before wicketkeeper Sarah Bryce failed to hold onto another very tricky chance diving forward off Marizanne Kapp.

Dinesh’s luck (4 off 7) wore off on the very next delivery as Kapp and DC successfully reviewed a caught-behind decision. Kapp and Shikha Pandey continued to tighten the screws on the scoring rate. UPW skipper Deepti Sharma got off the mark only on the 10th delivery she faced and UP ended the powerplay at 38/1.

Giving DC something to be happy about with their fielding, Niki Prasad expertly judged a difficult high catch to dismiss Navgire (17 off 20), before then taking a simple yet crucial catch to send back Sharma (13 off 19).

Arundhati Reddy and Kapp’s timber strikes to dismiss Shweta Sehrawat and Grace Harris pushed UPW further behind at 87/5 after 13 overs. Amidst a couple of other missed chances, DC’s most expensive drop of the night came in the 15th over as Kapp spilled an easy chance in the deep to give Chinelle Henry a breather.

What followed was an innings to savour!

Henry smashed eight sixes en route to a stunning 23-ball 62, also equalling Sophia Dunkley’s record for the fastest TATA WPL fifty in tournament history (18 balls). Henry sent the ball all around the park, including 24 runs off Pandey’s 17th over and 22 off Reddy’s 19th over as UPW smashed 67 runs in the last four overs.

The curse of missed opportunities in the field followed UPW. Shafali Verma lived an immensely charmed 30-ball 24, during which wicketkeeper Uma Chetry missed two easy stumpings and Saima Thakor dropped two straightforward catches at point.

Through all of that, 21-year-old Kranti Goud bowled a beauty of an inswinger to castle Lanning for her maiden TATA WPL wicket, before then dismissing Verma as Thakor was third-time lucky with a catch in the deep, thus leaving DC struggling at 43/2 in the ninth over.

Rodrigues became the latest player to get a reprieve - dropped on 33 by Thakor. But Goud, who also bagged the prized wickets of Rodrigues and Jess Jonassen to become the second youngest player to take a 4-fer in the WPL, ensured UPW did not regret those drops.

Rodrigues brought up her first fifty of the season in the process, but without much support at the other end, it was smooth sailing for UPW.

In a match that was already highly eventful, Grace Harris capped off an incredible night for UPW with a hat-trick (wickets of Niki Prasad, Arundhati Reddy and Minnu Mani) to bowl DC out for 144. After two catches in the deep, Harris took a catch fired right at her by Mani on the second attempt to become just the third player to take a TATA WPL hat-trick.

Brief scores: UP Warriorz 177/9 in 20 overs (Chinelle Henry 62, Tahlia McGrath 24, Jess Jonassen 4-31) beat Delhi Capitals 144/10 in 19.3 overs (Jemimah Rodrigues 56, Grace Harris 4-15, Kranti Goud 4-25).

The full scorecard and match details can be found here.