WPL championship game saw the Mumbai Indians defeat the Delhi Capitals Women’s Premier League. Australia captain Meg Lanning starred with the bat while England trio Natalie Sciver, Katherine Brunt, and South Africa’s Marizanne Kapp were all key contributors with the ball in hand as the Mumbai Indians claimed a thrilling 10-run win over the Delhi Capitals in the final of the Women’s Premier League on Sunday.
Shafali Verma, the opener for Mumbai, played an aggressive knock of 48 from 28 balls after winning the toss and deciding to bat first.
Lanning then took control of the inning, anchoring it with a measured 56 points on 46 shots.
Mumbai Indians defeat Delhi Capitals to win Women’s Premier League championship
Mumbai wpl managed to post a respectable total of 152/6 from their 20 overs, despite losing a few late wickets.
In response, Delhi struggled to get going against the bowlers from Mumbai, and Sciver, Brunt, and Kapp consistently took wickets to control the run rate.
Jemimah Rodrigues, an international for India, had a late surge that gave Delhi hope (46 from 31), but it was ultimately too little, too late, as they finished on 142/6.
Mumbai, which won the inaugural tournament in 2021, won the victory and their second Women’s Premier League title.
Mumbai worked as a true team, with the bat and the ball each contributing in some way. Along with outstanding batting performances from Verma and Lanning, captain Harmanpreet Kaur also made a significant contribution at the end of the innings with a quickfire 23 from just 12 deliveries.
Sciver, the team’s star bowler, finished with outstanding figures of 3-24 from her four overs. Both Brunt and Kapp, who each took two wickets, were equally successful in containing the Delhi batsmen.
The tournament’s top run-scorer with 459 runs from eight games was the tournament’s young opener, Shafali Verma, who played the opening position.
With 328 runs scored at an average of 54, Jemimah Rodrigues also performed admirably.
Shafali Verma and Meg Lanning shine in Mumbai Indians’ victory
It was a disappointing conclusion to what had been a successful campaign for Delhi.
With six victories in eight games, the team had placed first in the group stage league table.
They were unable to maintain that form in the championship game, struggling to get going with the bat and failing to pick off wickets at critical moments.
Despite the defeat, Delhi still had some gains to draw from the competition.
On Sunday, Mumbai Indians defeated Delhi Capitals by seven wickets in a low-scoring final to claim the championship title in the inaugural Women’s Premier League.
Nat Sciver-Brunt, an all-rounder from England, played a key role in the victory with her late surge of 60 not out.
The Brabourne Stadium was packed with fans, and Mumbai Indians successfully chased down the target of 131 with three balls to spare.
Delhi Capitals opted to bat first but struggled, finding themselves at 79 for 9 in 16 overs.
Sciver-Brunt duo helps Mumbai Indians win the final with a late surge
However, a partnership between Shikha Pandey and Radha Yadav allowed them to post a respectable total of 131 for 9.
Mumbai Indians faced a challenging run chase but managed to reach 134 for 3 in 19.3 overs, with Sciver-Brunt and Harmanpreet leading the way.
Sciver-Brunt was also named the Player of the Final, having scored her third fifty of the tournament and finishing as the second-highest run-scorer with 332 runs, behind DC captain Meg Lanning (345).
In the fourth over of the match, when Mumbai Indians (MI) were in a tough spot at 23 for 2, Harmanpreet (37 runs from 39 balls, including five 4s) and Sciver-Brunt partnered to take charge of the situation.
The pair combined their batting skills and added 72 runs for the third wicket, effectively absorbing the pressure.
MI had eight wickets in hand, but they still needed 45 runs in the last five overs.
At this point, Sciver-Brunt was batting for 28 runs off 38 balls.
However, she went on to hit several boundaries and helped MI secure a win.
This victory marked MI’s second win over Delhi out of three meetings this season, with the bowlers impressing in the first half of the match.
MI had a shaky start as Yastika Bhatia (4) was dismissed on a full toss by Radha Yadav, hitting straight to deep midwicket for the fourth wicket of the final.
Hayley Matthews (13 runs off 12 balls, including three 4s) then fell to Jess Jonassen’s delivery, chipping one straight to short midwicket, and this dealt the second blow to MI.
Matthews, Wong, and Kerr shine with the ball for Mumbai Indians
Delhi Capitals had a difficult start to their match, losing wickets quickly and collapsing to 79 for 9 after 16 overs.
This was due to the strong performances of overseas bowlers Hayley Matthews, Isabelle Wong, and Amelia Kerr, who took a total of eight wickets.
Matthews, in particular, took her total wickets to 16, which is currently the highest in the tournament, along with Sophie Ecclestone from UP Warriorz, while Wong and Kerr finished with 15 wickets each.
However, Delhi Capitals fought back with a 52-run unbeaten partnership between Shikha Pandey and Radha Yadav for the 10th wicket.
This helped them reach a total of 131 for 9 and gave them a chance to defend their score.
The final match began in a dramatic fashion, with Mumbai Indians claiming the first three wickets off full-toss deliveries from Isabelle Wong.
The first two decisions were referred to the third umpire, who ruled in favor of the bowling team.
Shafali Verma started well for the Delhi Capitals, hitting a six over long-on and a four on the next ball in the second over from Wong.
However, she was caught at point by Amelia Kerr off a waist-high full toss from the English bowler.
Delhi Capitals struggle with the bat in low-scoring final
Wong struck again for the Mumbai Indians, this time with a surprise full toss that Alice Capsey failed to control, and Amanjot Kaur took a stunning diving catch at extra cover.
This left the Delhi Capitals struggling at 12 for 2 in just 1.5 overs.
Jemimah Rodrigues managed to hit two boundaries in her brief knock of 9 off 8 balls, including a superb cover drive off the first delivery she faced from Wong.
However, her innings came to an end when she played a low full toss from Wong straight to Hayley Matthews at point.
The Mumbai Indians captain, Meg Lanning, also hit two boundaries in the early overs to relieve some pressure.
However, the Delhi Capitals were in trouble after losing three wickets quickly.
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