"Some good stuff, not enough of it" – Lanning acknowledges UPW's shortcomings

The muted non-celebration at the fall of Grace Harris' wicket said it all. UP Warriorz's crushing eight-wicket defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore was a massive dent to their faint hopes of making the WPL 2026 playoffs. While RCB are through to the finals directly, UPW have been left staring at the bottom of the points table.

Meg Lanning, UPW's captain, pointed to a lack of consistency for the team's below-par showing. "We've played some good cricket in patches but we haven't been consistent enough," she said after the team's fifth defeat in seven league games. "Every time we've got some momentum with the bat and built a partnership we've sort of lost that and then lost some wickets in clumps as well. We've put some good starts together but haven't been able to finish off and that's been quite costly."

Warriorz's campaign has been a rollercoaster. After three defeats in a row, two back-to-back wins revived their playoffs chances, but those were quickly overshadowed by another couple of heavy losses. Lanning highlighted the fine margins that separate successful teams from those struggling.

"We've seen teams that have been successful through this tournament put on big partnerships and really not give the other team a sniff. Unfortunately we haven't been able to do that. It's a similar story with the ball: we've hit some good areas sometimes but certainly not as consistent as we would have liked. It's sort of been a tournament of some good stuff but just not enough of it."

Part of the underlying cause may have been the wholesale restructuring of the squad at the mega auction. From their 18-member side in the inaugural WPL cycle, UPW only retained uncapped India batter Shweta Sehrawat and chose to rebuild from scratch, including onboarding a new captain in Lanning and new coaching staff.

Lanning acknowledged that the squad overhaul brought its own set of challenges but refused to use it as an excuse. "I think it's always a challenge for every team coming together after a mega auction… That's no excuse for the results that we've had though. You have a short time-frame but everyone has the same time-frame so you need to try and put it together as best you can," she said.

The skipper reassured that it wasn't for a lack of trying. "Everyone's put in as much effort as they can. It's certainly not through lack of effort, there's been a lot of passion and effort put in by a lot of people. That's why, I guess, you get so disappointed when the results don't go your way."

On the brink of elimination, Warriorz have the poorest net run-rate but still have a mathematical possibility of sneaking through. Lanning insisted she'd like the team to give it their all since they "have nothing to lose."

Drawing from her own experience—having led Delhi Capitals to top the table for three successive WPL seasons without winning the trophy—Lanning offered empathy and best wishes to RCB.

"Oh, they've got a week to wait now which, I can tell from experience, is not the best way. I think it does suit the team that plays the Eliminator, they obviously get some momentum. But, RCB have been the best team all season. They deserve their spot in the final, so good luck to them."