Back-to-back days of cricket had done little to exhaust Nicola Carey's energy. She entered the press conference room stumbling and smiling on Saturday night. She had all the reasons to be happy. Two games into the season, her tournament was shaping up well.

In the opening game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, she blasted a 29-ball 40 at a critical time in Mumbai Indians' innings, and followed it up with two wickets and a catch. An evening later, she outdid herself. After scoring a 12-ball 21, she returned three wickets and took as many catches in Mumbai Indians' win against Delhi Capitals.

Those numbers read especially well after she had a rude welcome to the tournament, being carted around for three boundaries and a six by Grace Harris in her opening over of this season, which prompted her to revisit her bowling plans and lengths. Speaking of the alterations she had to make to the Indian conditions, she said, "I certainly had to tweak something from the other night, that was a rough start, that first over.

"I bowled into the wicket a bit more (against DC), which is literally what I was thinking and I guess I got a little bit lucky. It's hard to tell with how I bowl, I can't really see what's happening, but I might have done a little bit off the wicket. One of the other wickets [of Jemimah Rodrigues] was a little bit lucky to be fair, it's like an outside edge."

Maybe it's a practical assessment or possibly downplaying her efforts with the ball on Saturday, but only two days into her Women's Premier League career, she has created enough impact to ideally not have second thoughts of her utility for any team in the competition. Yet, in a way, she is aware that it won't be a surprise if she has to sit out of MI's next game, scheduled against Gujarat Giants on Tuesday.

Only a few minutes after delivering a complete all-round performance in Mumbai Indians' maiden win of the season, Carey distanced herself from personal plaudits, and spoke the words of an ultimate team player. Graciously she claimed, "I'm hoping Hayley [Matthews] gets better because I know it's great for our team as well and that's what we're here to do, play as a team and hopefully, go really deep in this competition."

By the time the conversation reached that confession stage, no one was pretending the obvious: that Carey got her opportunity to feature in Mumbai Indians' XI because Matthews was yet to fully recover from her shoulder niggle, which has kept her out of action from Mumbai Indians' first two games of the season. The moment Matthews recovers fully, in all likelihood, Carey will have to sit out of the side irrespective of how well she performs in the limited opportunities that come her way till then.