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English left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone, who top-ranked in the ODI and T20I rankings, is confident of a turnaround in the fortunes of her team, saying her team is very "excited" for the Delhi leg and added that "it's great to play together" with some great Indian, overseas players.
Sophie, who is a part of the Women's Premier League franchise (WPL) UP Warriorz, has bagged seven wickets in five matches with an economy of 7.80. UP Warriorz will play their first match of WPL's Delhi leg against reigning champions Mumbai Indians on Thursday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The 24-year-old Ecclestone now has 233 wickets across three forms with her left-arm spin bowling, which combines precision, turn, and bounce in equal measure. "Very excited... need to win last three matches here to qualify. Hopefully, we can do that and put some wins on board. I am very excited to play against Mumbai, they have a great team," Sophie told ANI in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of a UN programme in Delhi. As the competition advances, Ecclestone and UP Warriorz have lately won two straight matches. "It's great to perform for UP. Some great Indian players and some overseas. I think it's great to play together and get some wins for UP," Sophie On Wednesday, Ecclestone took a break from cricket to participate in a one-of-a-kind partnership between the UP Warriorz and UN Women, which promoted gender equality by creating murals in Delhi's Hauz Khas. Talking about the collaboration, Ecclestone stated, "Yeah, it's amazing to join up with the United Nations. It's great to celebrate women's sport. I think it's really exciting for us also to be out here." Meanwhile, another UP Warriorz spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad said she is expecting that the wicket at the Arun Jaitley Stadium will help her team succeed in upcoming matches. Gayakwad discussed her opinions on the revolutionary idea of honouring female fighters with a wall of honour. Talking about the initiative, Gayakwad said, "I had so much fun. It was great to see that they had made paintings of women warriors on the wall." UP Warriorz currently sits at the fourth spot in the ongoing tournament with four points from five matches. "Wins and losses are part of small formats. Be it a good team or a normal team, we cannot say anything for them because anything can happen in this format. Our team is very good. We have a positive mindset for the upcoming matches. We will play well in future and will also win," she said. Talking about her performance in the previous match where she conceded 43 runs in 3 over, Gayakwad said, "My performance in the last match was a little okay. Everyone has an off day no matter how good a cricketer you are. Will try to improve against MI." (ANI)
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