Even though both sides have suffered losses going into the match, Warriorz will be more motivated to win because they are trying to survive in this Women’s Premier League season.

File Photo: Teams led by Harmanpreet Kaur (right) and Alyssa Healy are expected to face off in a dramatic match on Thursday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, with the race to finish in the top three in the mix. Image courtesy of SPORTZPICS for WPL

When Alyssa Healy and Harmanpreet Kaur, the captains of the Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz, respectively, square off on opposing sides of a cricket pitch, fireworks are sure to ensue.

In international cricket, the two have a history of small-scale fights, fervent celebrations, and cold greetings.

Drama is set to ensue in their Women’s Premier League (WPL) encounter on Thursday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi as Mumbai, the team in third position, and Warriors, the team fighting tooth and nail, battle it out to finish in the top three.

Before the Royal Challengers Bangalore vs. Gujarat Giants game on Wednesday, MI and UPW were ranked third and fourth in the standings, respectively.

The former team enters this match having lost to the Delhi Capitals by 29 runs, while the UP Warriors were defeated by the Royal Challengers by 23 runs.

After seeing firsthand how difficult the low, slow conditions at Jaitley Stadium can be, MI will try to follow Jemimah Rodrigues’ lead going forward.

That being said, should the pitch vary for this game, it will present an entirely new problem.

For a team that dominates and has guys hitting in unison with the bat and ball, MI’s defeat can be described as an anomaly in the season.

Meg Lanning played poorly off the pads, leaving a player of her caliber a little perplexed as to where the ball went.

Shabnim Ismail recorded the fastest delivery in women’s game history. The lineup of Warriorz would have been observing.

The top and middle orders have performed well for MI, but S. Sajana and Amanjot Kaur’s explosiveness will give the side a lot of confidence moving forward.

Healy, Warriorz, and the top order are supposed to handle the most of the scoring duties, but she hasn’t been reliable enough to lead the team’s batting attack this year.

Her assistance has also been inconsistent. The team mostly depends on its foreign pool because Indian players like Shweta Sehrawat and Kiran Navgire haven’t quite found their groove.

With the exception of Navgire, only Poonam Khemnar has shown herself to be a capable big-hitter among the Indians. Grace Harris and Chamari Athapaththu have been assigned heavy lifting responsibilities.

For Deepti Sharma, both with bat and ball, this tournament has been relatively quiet thus far. She has only taken three wickets so far this season and needs to get back to her previous form in order to support Sophie Ecclestone, especially when it comes to breaking important partnerships.

With RCB eking out a spot in the top three, a victory will give UP Warriorz momentum in their attempt to survive in the competition.

As MI is the more consistent team between the two, Harmanpreet will be looking for an easy win to get back on track.