Injury scuppers Aussie batting ace's WPL campaign

Phoebe Litchfield has been forced to abandon her brilliant campaign in the Women's Premier League, her loss spelling seriously bad news for Meg Lanning, her fellow Australian and captain at UP Warriorz.

Switch-hitting virtuoso Litchfield had been Lanning's go-to batter in the Indian league, the tournament's third-highest scorer in 2026 and a key hope for the Lucknow-based team to still eke out a place in the playoffs.

But the 22-year-old has suffered a quad injury and has returned home to Australia for treatment, with the hope that she'll be fit for the multi-format series against India, which will feature three T20s, three ODIs and a Test match. The first game, a T20I in Sydney, will be on February 15.

Meanwhile, Lanning's UP Warriorz have had to act quickly to replace Litchfield, who's been a key performer, having scored 243 runs at an average of 40, and a strike rate of 155.

Only Nat Sciver-Brunt and Harmanpreet Kaur, the respective captains of England and India, have score more runs in the league than the young Aussie in 2026, leaving the Warriorz to lament her farewell on social media.

She'll be replaced by Amy Jones, the 32-year-old England wicketkeeper-batter who was last seen chiselling out 43 for the Melbourne Stars in the WBBL last month.

The Warriorz are currently on the bottom of the five-team ladder and must win their final two matches on Thursday and Sunday to have any chance of being among the three qualifying teams.

On Thursday, Jones is set to be thrown straight into the fray in Vadodara against a Royal Challengers Bengaluru side featuring Australian big-hitting duo, Grace Harris and Georgia Voll.