Warrior Kiran Navgire can prompt rejig at top

PTI

Bengaluru, February 29

Kiran Navgire would not have opened but for a freak shoulder injury to Vrinda Dinesh and now her brisk fifty against Mumbai Indians might just prompt UP Warriorz to rework their combination at the top.

Navgire struck a 31-ball 57 and combined with Alyssa Healy (33) to help UPW overhaul a 162-run target in just 16.4 overs against the defending champions last night.

It could shake things up in the line-up, which has till now worked around the far more traditional opening pair of Healy and Vrinda.

“When the innings ended the head coach (Jon Lewis) came up to me and said I had to open. I was happy, because I opened the batting in domestic cricket, and I had the chance to do that here,” Navgire said after the match.

Range hitters are a rare breed in women’s cricket, and Navgire has opened that option for the UP outfit. Warriorz have been notoriously slow starters in the WPL with their middle-order batters cracking under massive run-rate pressure.

In their first match against RCB, UP made 36/1 and they were 21/3 against Delhi Capitals in the second.

But with Navgire coming in as opener, UP made 61/0 in the powerplay segment. It was their fastest start, for that matter any team’s, in this edition of the WPL.

Her approach is as simple as the big shots she executes.

“I just played the ball on merit (against MI), played my natural game. If the ball is in my arc, it should go into the stands — that is my natural thought,” said Navgire.

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