Harleen Deol's smashed an unbeaten half-century to help UP Warriorz register their first victory of the season after three consecutive defeats, after they outclassed Mumbai Indians by seven wickets in the Women's Premier League match in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.
Less than 24 hours after being retired out, Deol bounced back with a blistering 64 not out from 39 balls, hitting 12 fours, as UP Warriorz chased down the target of 162 with 11 balls to spare.
In the UPW's previous match on Wednesday, Harleen, 27, was surprisingly called back to the dugout in the 17th over despite stroking 47 from 36 balls at a strike rate of 130.55.
A dejected Harleen had walked back to the dugout after getting the signal from head coach Abhishek Nayar, becoming only the second batter to be retired out in the WPL.
However, the UPW right-hander ensured that there was no repeat of the act against MI, as she made a positive start -- hitting the first ball she faced for a boundary. Harleen looked in the mood, racing to 17 from six balls with six fours.
Chasing 162 for victory, Harleen in the company of the young Phoebe Litchfield took UPW to 83/2 in 10 overs at the halfway mark.
Harleen took MI pacer Shabnim Ismail to the cleaners with three fours in the 12th over before racing to her fifty from just 31 balls with a four off Sanskriti Gupta.
"I feel good. A first win for the team and I'm very happy," said Harleen after the match.
'Sometimes it's just your day'
When asked about the retired out in the previous match, she replied: "Actually, yesterday also I was batting well but as you saw today, how Chloe (Tyron) can change the scenario. For me I just took it in that way. Chloe is someone who can hit big so probably that (the decision to retire out) didn't go our way. That is the only thing which happened. There's no point just keep stressing on that thing."
Harleen stated that her approach was same as the previous game and this time she could find the boundaries regularly.
"I just got a few boundary balls, so I could convert it into boundaries. Sometimes it's just your day, that wherever you are thinking to hit, the ball comes there, so it was that for me. The first two games didn't go my way. I was over-hitting earlier. This wasn't the wicket to do that."
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