New Delhi: Women’s Premier League has written a new chapter in the history of cricket and added more value, in terms of fans, finance and quality, to women’s cricket. Mumbai Indian and Delhi Capitals will face each other in the finals of the inaugural edition of WPL, and it will be a clash to remember. Australian skipper Meg Lanning and Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur stand face-to-face again as the stage is set for the big night.
The teams have faced each other twice and won a game each, and there could not be two better teams to play in the finals of the WPL 2023. While Meg Lanning will look to add another trophy to her cabinet, Harmanpreet will want to have a major trophy with her.
Top quality spinners, top 4 to lead MI
MI has a great top four in their unit with Hayley Matthews and Yastika Bhatia opening, Nat Sciver-Brunt at number 3 and Harmanpreet at number 4. Sciver-Brunt has been their top scorer with 272 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 149.45. While Matthews has been their star player both with bat and ball, Bhatia has not only proven herself in WPL but also made a case to be a permanent part of the Indian side.
The only problem that lies in the MI camp is that the lower order has not been able to prove much. Amelia Kerr showed her worth in the eliminator with her 29 off 19, and the team might require her to stand up in the finals too.
Mumbai has four bowlers in the top five contenders for the purple cap. Saika Ishaque with 15 wickets has been their find of the tournament and the gates of the Indian team seem to be open for her. The third and the fourth place are occupied by Amelia Kerr and Matthews with 13 wickets each and Issy Wong’s historic hat-trick in the eliminator took her to be the only pacer in the top five bowlers.
DC has strong batting lineup with formidable pace attack
Delhi Capitals have the most distructive opening pair in Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma. Lanning is also the orange cap holder currently with 310 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 141. Meanwhile, Shafali has scored 241 at a mindblowing strike rate of 182. The pair loves to finish the games by themselves. They also have Jemimah Rodrigues, Alice Capsey and Marizanne Kapp in the middle order and bat deep with Taniya Bhatia and Radha Yadav at 9 and 10 respectively.
Shikha Pandey, who recently made her comeback to the Indian side, has been DC’s highest wicket-taker with 10 scalps. Pandey and Kapp have handled much of their bowling but on Brabourne’s spinning track, they would need Jess Jonassen and Radha Yadav to stand up to the occassion.
Prediction
It will be a battle between MI’s bowling and DC’s batting. Both of the teams are heavy with star performers and it is likely to be the most entertaining clash of the tournamnet. DC will come in with a lot of confidence as they finished on the top while MI has recovered from their two losses and it will be a competition of holding nerves better.
One would back Lanning to lift another cup, while the heart goes to Harmanpreet to win this time.