There were no particular problems with Nat Silver-Blunt’s first pitch in this season’s Women’s Premier League. Maybe it was a little short, but it was actually a long ball that was aimed at the stumps. Most opening batters are the type to pick up with solid defense and advance the innings.

Not Grace Harris though.

Harris responded by pushing the ball into the leg side so hard that the square-leg fielder had no time to look at the ball that popped out for a walk, and in doing so began an opening partnership that resulted in the most shocking stroke-making in the league this year.

Harris, Smriti Mandhana, representing Royal Challengers Bengaluru, had one of the most prolific opening partnerships in the league, scoring 383 runs at a run rate of 10.21, sometimes ending the match itself as RCB comfortably topped the league stage of the tournament and secured a direct qualification to the finals.

So it’s even more interesting that Harris arrived in India without any expectations of being open. The all-rounder, who is a regular opener for Brisbane Heat in the Women’s Big Bash League and also opens for UP Warriors, had expected to be used in a lower-order role for Australia, but received other instructions from head coach Marolan Rangarajan.

“He came up to me in a training session and said: “For now, you’re going to start batting for now.” “And if we feel that things need to change, we’re going to change them,” Harris recalled at a media meet-and-greet before the final. I just need to be given a role. ”

That role came down to a phrase Harris repeats over and over again. “Eat the cheese, not the cat. In other words, don’t be afraid to take extra risks and go outside.”

The 32-year-old took that to heart. Her powerplay strike rate of 172 is the best for a batsman who played at least 25 balls in the first six overs, and her tournament-wide strike rate of 180.58 is comfortably the best among the tournament’s top 20 run-scorers.

Maximizing the first six overs with just two fielders was a key part of Harris’ game.

“The way I approach it in the power play compared to off-power play is you only have two fielders. You’re going to be faced with more of a swinging delivery or a seamless delivery than a change of pace.”

In other words, if you can calculate the inherent risk to some extent, you can sometimes earn more points by hitting 40 or 30 meters than by hitting 78 meters. Because there are only two outs, you can legitimately just clear the ring fielder. Even if you make enough contact with it, it may fly away.

In other words, set up for a moving ball and at the same time try to hit the moving ball into the middle of the bat. If it comes off, it will come off. But if not, at least try to make it a good ball to get you out, not necessarily a crappy, hacky kind of shot,” she explained.

Playing the attacker is a role that involves risk and volatility, and Harris’ returns reflect that. Her individual season (228 runs at 28.50) was intense at times, but there were also some cheap dismissals against the new moving ball.

In a tight tournament like the WPL, where the matches are intense (RCB at one point played three matches in four days), it was crucial for Harris to remain objective about her dismissal.

Grace Harris and Smriti Mandhana, who represent Royal Challengers Bangalore, have had one of the most prolific opening partnerships in the league. |Photo courtesy of PTI

“I try to be objective about how I get out. If I pick the right shot on the right ball, it’s no good. If I don’t execute it, I just say it’s bad luck, or I could have been better, but if I obviously took the wrong shot, I go and tell the coaches, no, we need to work on this,” Harris explained.

Harris is calm about the instability that comes with his role. “T20 cricket is so fickle and my role is so inconsistent that I can’t stick around till the end and I can’t hit 200 consistently. I win only three or four matches at most,” she reflected. “I’m not going to hit 50 every time. And if they want more consistency from me, I’m definitely going to have to lower that strike rate and lower that impact.”

“Having that kind of mental clarity with the coaches really helps you think clearly when you go out into the midfield,” Harris further explained. “And we’re just trying to solve problems on the fly based on the situation.”

Harris will have another chance to make a decisive impact for RCB when they face Delhi Capitals in the tournament final on Thursday. It’s notoriously impossible to predict the finals, but one thing’s for sure: When Grace Harris strides to the plate, she’ll be aiming for the cheese, not the cat.

Published February 4, 2026