Bengaluru, Feb 29
UP Warriorz captain Alyssa Healy had to tackle a pitch invader during her team’s seven-wicket victory over the Mumbai Indians in the 2024 Women’s Premier League (WPL) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday night.
The incident took place in the final over of Mumbai’s innings when a spectator breached security and ran on the field, resulting in a short break in the proceedings. Alyssa, who was wicket-keeping at that time, tried to grab the pitch invader and just slowed him down as the security caught up with him and went off the field.
Previously, former men’s cricketer Andrew Symonds and Australia women’s football player Sam Kerr had to deal with invaders during play. Following the incident, Alyssa made 33 runs off 29 balls while sharing a 94-run opening partnership with Kiran Navgire to help steer the UP Warriorz towards their first victory of the ongoing tournament by chasing down 162 in 16.3 overs.
“We get cake, that is what we do in India and that is what Sophie Ecclestone is most excited about. I’m just proud of the girls. They’ve never at any point dropped their heads, dropped their shoulders after our start to the campaign.
“They just come back every day and work even harder. Over the moon to get ourselves on the board and beat a quality side like Mumbai. It’s nice to be able to get a win, but we’ve got a lot of work to do,” said Alyssa after the match ended.
The UP Warriorz, currently fourth on the WPL 2024 standings, will next face the bottom-placed Gujarat Giants, captained by Alyssa’s national team opening partner Beth Mooney, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday night.