“I love the batting tracks in Mumbai” - UP Warriorz all-rounder Tahlia McGrath
UP Warriorz all-rounder Tahlia McGrath has stated that she loves batting on wickets in Mumbai. The Aussie big-hitter stated batters get value for strokes on surfaces in the city, but admitted that she doesn’t like bowling on the batting-friendly tracks.
Bowling first in the WPL 2023 match against Delhi Capitals (DC) at the DY Patil Sports Academy, McGrath got the big wicket of Shafali Verma. However, she proved expensive with the ball, conceding 37 runs in her three overs.
The 27-year-old, however, made amends with the bat, clobbering 90* off 50 balls even as UP Warriorz fell well short in a chase of 212. Speaking about her terrific knock, McGrath said at a post-match conference:
“I love the batting tracks in Mumbai. I don’t like bowling on them, but I like batting on them. I think they are just such good wickets that you can play good cricket shots and get rewarded for your shots.
"T20 cricket is so inventive and I was moving around a bit today. But, if you just stand still and play good cricket shots, you get rewarded. I absolutely love playing cricket here.”
Tahlia. Taaliyan! 👏
A herculean knock 💪
#UPWarriorzUttarDega #WPL #DCvUPW https://t.co/Yrw0bfH757
The aggressive batter smashed 40* off 29 balls and 70* off 51 balls in the first two T20Is at the DY Patil Sports Academy during Australia’s tour of India in December 2022.
“We just thought that needed some pace upfront” - Tahlia McGrath on Shabnim Ismail replacing Grace Harris
UP Warriorz made a massive call ahead of the game, leaving out Grace Harris in favor of pacer Shabnim Ismail. The move did not work out as planned.
Ismail registered decent figures of 1/29 from her four overs. However, UP definitely missed Harris in the big chase. Admitting that dropping Harris from the playing XI was an extremely tough decision, McGrath added:
“It’s a nice problem to have, when you are dropping players like Grace. For us, it is about the conditions, the match-ups. We just thought that needed some pace upfront. Delhi have a really strong top order and we thought we needed Shabs (Shabnim Ismail) to take some early wickets.
“Grace is pretty unlucky. I thought I was going to miss out, but there’s going to be some difficult decisions moving forward. We are either going to be little bit weak in our batting or little bit weak in our bowling. It was always going to be a bit of a gamble. Might not have paid off today (Tuesday), but they are the risks and bold decisions that you’ve got to make."
Contrasting emotions!
The result of #DCvUPW summarised in one picture 😃
#TATAWPL | @DelhiCapitals | @UPWarriorz https://t.co/UPfKuGRSQU
Despite McGrath’s blistering innings, UP Warriorz were held to 169/5 and went down to Delhi by 42 runs.