Mumbai Indians Women’s captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, made a brilliant 66 from 44 balls to lead her team to victory by just eight runs against the Delhi Capitals Women in a pulsating final of the WPL at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday evening.

Another heartbreak in the final for Delhi Capitals, as Mumbai Indians clinch their second title with a 8-run win 🏆#WPL2025 #WPLFinal #DCvMI #DelhiCapitals #MumbaiIndians pic.twitter.com/DXefUMyoNZ

— Circle of Cricket (@circleofcricket) March 15, 2025

But the match was dominated by the best two allrounders in the Women’s game as South Africa’s Marizanne Kapp and England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt contributed crucial runs and wickets before Sciver-Brunt’s dismissal of Kapp effectively closed the deal for Mumbai.

2⃣ x 🏆#AaliRe #MumbaiIndians #TATAWPL #DCvMI pic.twitter.com/3ky9vzx7O4

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) March 15, 2025

The MI Women, strong favourites before the tournament began, compiled 149-7 before restricting the Capitals to 141 for nine in reply, with Kapp having heroically dragged her team back into the contest from 44 for four after eight overs with a pulsating 40 from just 26 balls with five fours and two sixes before miscuing a drive to mid off against Brunt.

Brunt then claimed two crucial wickets to finish with 3-30 to finish a magnificent tournament from a team and personal perspective.

Jemimah Rodrigues’s well-paced 30 from 21 balls kept the run-chase alive after failures from the Delhi ‘big names’ – captain Meg Lanning (13) was bowled by Brunt while Jess Jonassen (13) and Annabel Sutherland (2) were caught and stumped respectively.

Niki Prasad (25* from 23 balls) kept Delhi’s hopes alive until the very end with a six and a four but time, and balls, ran out and the result was done.

Mumbai Indians Won 2025 WPL 💙🔥

12th Trophy for 𝗠𝗜 Franchise !

🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆#MumbaiIndians #TATAWPL #DCvMI pic.twitter.com/cNi83fgat1

— Arun Vijay (@AVinthehousee) March 15, 2025

Earlier, Harmanpreet added 89 for the third wicket with the tournament’s top scorer, Sciver-Brunt (30), a partnership which contributed all-but 60 runs of the team's total. The captain swept, flicked and drove nine fours with two legside sixes while the Englishwoman was relatively sedate on a tricky, slow pitch with just four boundaries in her 28 balls but took her run tally beyond 500 in just seven matches.

Kapp started her remarkable match with bowling figures of 4-0-11-2 after taking the new ball but her heroic efforts were in vain, perhaps even overshadowed – with the ball at least – by 36-year-old country woman, Shabnim Ismail, whose four overs brought her a wicket at a cost of just 15 runs. Two of South Africa’s greatest women cricketers, one winner and one loser on the night. But both champions.

MUMBAI INDIANS WOMEN: Yastika Bhatia (wkt), Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Marmanpreet Kaur (captain). Amelia Kerr, Sajeevan Sajana, G.Kamalini, Amanjot Kaur, Sanskriti Gupta, Shabnim Ismail, Saika Ishaque

DELHI CAPITALS WOMEN: Meg Lanning (captain), Shafali Verma, Jess Jonassen, Jemimah Rodrigues, Annabel Sutherland, Marizanne Kapp, Sarah Bryce (wkt), Niki Prasad, Shikha Pandey, Minnu Mani, Nallapureddy Charani.

Nat Sciver-Brunt and Hayley Matthews put on a show with the bat to set the Mumbai Indians Women up for a 47-run win over Gujarat Giants Women in their Tata Women's Premier League (WPL) encounter at the Brabourne on Thursday night.

7⃣-0⃣, our record versus the Giants remains intact 😎#AaliRe #MumbaiIndians #TATAWPL #MIvGG pic.twitter.com/nkHUrE7d8x

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) March 13, 2025

Ashleigh Gardner called correctly at the toss and asked Mumbai to bat first. Harmanpreet Kaur and company made the best of the conditions and raced to 213/4. Matthews and Amelia Kerr traded the purple cap as they helped Mumbai restrict the Giants to 166 in 19.2 overs.

“To put runs on the board like that, in a pressure game, that is also a way to go about it. Losing the toss today sets us up nicely for a good match in the final, and we can take confidence from that,” Sciver-Brunt shared after the match.

With this victory, Mumbai extended their head-to-head record against the Giants to 7-0. Mumbai showed their dominance over the Giants by recording the highest score ever in the WPL. A fitting touch to the encounter was that Matthews and Sciver-Brunt combined for the last wicket, bowled Matthews, the purple cap holder, and caught Sciver-Brunt.

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 📞🤩

Mumbai Indians make it to their 2⃣nd #TATAWPL Final 👏

Will they become the first team to win TWO TITLES? 🏆🤔#MIvGG | #Eliminator | @mipaltan pic.twitter.com/EmD9ojopt3

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 13, 2025

The duo did their best work on the day with the bat. They shared a 133-run second-wicket partnership that set Mumbai on course for a mammoth total. They were dismissed for identical scores, 77 runs. That tally, 77 runs, is the highest individual score in a WPL eliminator tie. The duo was in sync so much that they both reached their half-centuries through sixes.

The platform they constructed set the stage for Harmanpreet Kaur to put on a clinic in batting at the death. The Mumbai captain smashed four sixes and two fours for her 36 runs off 12 balls to put her side in front at the break.

"Hayley and Nat did a good job, setting it up for us. They are great players, they know how to play these kinds of games. We don't need to tell them what they need to do. Really happy with how they took responsibility and batted for the team," Kaur shared after the match.

The orange cap holder, Sciver-Brunt, is enjoying a fruitful season. She has one of the highest strike rates in the tournament and became the first-ever batter to register five half-centuries in a WPL season with her 77 off 41 balls. She was in fine touch and required only 29 deliveries to reach the milestone. Sciver-Brunt now has eight 50s in the WPL.

𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙈𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝘼𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣....𝙄𝙣 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 😍

Delhi Capitals 🆚 Mumbai Indians

🗓 Saturday, March 15, 2025
⏰ 8.00 PM IST
🏟 Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai#TATAWPL | #DCvMI | #Final | @DelhiCapitals | @mipaltan pic.twitter.com/e2fyj21ViB

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 13, 2025

Her fluent strokeplay allowed Matthews time to find her feet after a scratchy start. At one point, the West Indies star was on 17 off 22 balls after seven overs. The opener broke the shackles by slapping three consecutive boundaries off Priya Mishra in the eighth over. Matthews scored 14 of the 15 runs the over yielded. With that, she was up and going.

"I think it was a really good game, you got a lot of value for your shots as a batter. We (Nat and me) worked hard to ease the pressure off of us," Matthews explained.

𝘒𝘪𝘥𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 2𝘯𝘥 #TATAWPL 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭! 🥹#AaliRe #MumbaiIndians #MIvGG pic.twitter.com/hRs7bkvlAT

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) March 13, 2025

She found her range and punished the Giants for not holding on to the chance to dismiss her when she was on five. Matthews raced to her fifth WPL half-century in 36 balls. She finished the match with 77 off 50 balls. Her tally matched her WPL career-best total, an unbeaten 77 against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2023. This is her third half-ton of the season and her fifth in the WPL.

The Giants did not help their cause with the numerous misfields that leaked runs. Gardner's teammates conceded several boundaries through poor fielding efforts. Mumbai did better than the Giants in the field. They were on point in stopping boundaries and executed three run-outs that tipped the game in their favour.

Bhatia was not at her best with the bat but was clinical behind the stumps. The wicketkeeper completed the run-outs initiated by Sanskriti Gupta, Amanjot Kaur, and Harmanpreet Kaur to dismiss Harleen Deol, Danielle Gibson, and Kashvee Gautam. She also showed off her lightning quick reflexes with the stumping of Phoebe Litchfield.

Mumbai's bowlers ensured that the Giants didn't get any momentum. Gibson, who came into the side in place of the injured Deandra Dottin, started like a house on fire but was dismissed for 34 off 24 before she inflicted more damage. Litchfield's innings followed a similar arc, then she was dismissed for 31 off 20.

Hayley Matthews was the pick of the bowlers for Mumbai with three wickets for 31 runs in 3.2 overs. Amelia Kerr did well for her two wickets for 28 runs in four overs, while Shabnim Ismail and Nat Sciver-Brunt finished with a wicket each.

GUJARAT GIANTS: Beth Mooney (wk), Kashvee Gautam, Harleen Deol, Ashleigh Gardner (capt), Phoebe Litchfield, Danielle Gibson, Bharti Fulmali, Simran Shaikh, Tanuja Kanwar, Meghna Singh, Priya Mishra.

MUMBAI INDIANS: Hayley Matthews, Amelia Kerr, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Amanjot Kaur, Yastika Bhatia (wk), S Sajana, G Kamalini, Sanskriti Gupta, Shabnim Ismail, Saika Ishaque.

Former Australia captain Meg Lanning's winning mentality and unwavering optimism have been instrumental in leading the Delhi Capitals to their third consecutive Women's Premier League (WPL) final, India batter Jemimah Rodrigues said.

Lanning has led Delhi in the WPL since the inaugural 2023 season and Rodrigues praised the seven-times World Cup winner for her clear vision and ability to inspire a winning spirit within the team.

"Meg is someone who wants to win every game. But, at the same time, she has the amount of clarity in what she's looking for. Winning is one thing that she tells us, but she also tells us to focus on what we need to do," Rodrigues told reporters.

"... She has clarity in what she wants to do and what she wants this team to do and makes sure she takes everyone along in doing that thing. I think that helps us be a successful team.

"The thing I love about Meg, and this is something that I would like to add in myself... is that she's calm but aggressive at the same time. And as a leader, that's a very crucial quality to have."

Since the WPL's inception, Delhi have reached the final in every season, but are yet to clinch the title.

Delhi are waiting to find out their opponents for Saturday's showdown, which will be decided following the eliminator match between the Mumbai Indians and the Gujarat Giants.

Rodrigues, who is also Delhi's vice-captain, credited the team's professionalism and unity for their consistency, especially during the current season which she described as the most challenging ever.

"Every player adds so much value to the team that they just know their stuff," she said.

"I think out of all the three seasons, we are most proud of this year, because it wasn't easy, but we found a way to pick ourselves up and still come at the top."

Rodrigues is not a fan of the IPL's impact player rule, which allows teams to substitute one player during a game, and hopes it is not introduced in the WPL.

"I am not a massive fan of the impact player (rule) because I am someone who loves the rules we already have," she said.

"It's unfair to the bowlers also sometimes when they have bowled so well and have done so much and then towards the end, a proper batter is coming in."

Twenty20 leagues have transformed women's cricket from a sport that once relied on public support for survival into an appealing spectacle, according to West Indies white-ball captain Hayley Matthews.

The allrounder, who shot to fame in the West Indies' 2016 T20 World Cup triumph, said T20 leagues like the Women's Premier League (WPL) in India have fostered global exposure and helped develop the women's game.

"I feel like once upon a time, women's cricket was probably like, 'Come and watch the game to support the women,' whereas now I feel like we have a product that's entertaining and we have these skills that people want to see us play cricket," Matthews told Reuters.

"I think just getting the opportunity to play these leagues and have all the games televised and have people watching and supporting is naturally going to help the game to grow.

"There's plenty of opportunities for women to grow in cricket and I think competitions like the WPL give a platform for the game to grow. It introduces people to the game... shows the level of skill that we have in women's cricket."

Matthews has claimed the joint most wickets (14) in the ongoing WPL season alongside Mumbai Indians teammate Amelia Kerr.

Mumbai will compete in the WPL eliminator against Gujarat Giants on Thursday after they were denied top spot in the table following their 11-run defeat by Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Monday.

"I feel like ourselves along with DC (Delhi) are ready to look at these setups (playoffs). We have a really good balance of international players as well as the local Indian players too," Matthews said.

"We get contributions from so many different participants in the team like Nat (Sciver-Brunt), Melie (Amelia Kerr), Shab (Shabnim Ismail), myself, being able to step up as internationals.

"When you look at a captain like Harmanpreet (Kaur), even the young players, like Sanskriti Gupta that have come in this year, have been able to make massive impacts."

Matthews also harbours ambitions of leading the West Indies to a World Cup triumph, which they narrowly missed last year after an eight-run defeat to New Zealand in the T20 World Cup semifinal.

But the 26-year-old has her sights firmly set on test cricket with West Indies set to mark their return to the red-ball format.

West Indies, who made their red-ball debut in 1976 and played their last test in 2004 against Pakistan, will host Australia in a one-off test next year.

Their return to test cricket will then continue with a home series against England in 2027, their first encounter since 1979, followed by an away test in South Africa in 2028.

"I feel test cricket is the pinnacle of cricket. It's called test cricket for a reason. It's a very challenging format of the game," Matthews said.

"I can't wait for the opportunity to go there and put on some whites and experience what that format is like."

Smriti Mandhana top-scored with 53 from 37 balls and Ellyse Perry finished unbeaten on 49 from 38 balls but it was Georgia Wareham’s 31 not out from just 10 balls which did most to ensure the Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women won their WPL match against the Mumbai Indians Women at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday.

It was a consolation 11-run victory for the RCB Women who posted an imposing total of 199-3 having already been eliminated from the playoff-stages, but a costly defeat for the MI Women who would have finished top of the log and avoided the Qualifier Match had they won.

England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt did her best in the run-chase with 69 from just 35 balls (9x4, 2x6) but there was substantive support as the MI Women closed on 188-9 with RCB offspinner Sneh Rana claiming 3-26 and Australian new-ball pairing Kim Garth (2-33) and Perry (2-53) a brace apiece.

Mandhana earlier batted until the 12th over, striking six fours and three sixes to control the innings but Wareham put the game beyond MI with a fiery cameo in which she struck six of the ten balls faced to the boundary, five on the grass and one in the air.

Richa Ghosh was made to look pedestrian in comparison with her 36 from 22 balls with five fours and a six.

The result means the Delhi Capitals Women retain their place at the top of the log and a direct passage into the final with five wins and 10 points from their eight matches while the MI Women will play the Gujrat Giants Women in the Qualifier for the second place in the final.

RCB WOMEN: Sabbhineni Meghana, Smriti Mandhana (captain), Ellyse Perry, Richa Ghosh (wkt), Georgia Wareham, Kanika Ahuja, Heather Graham, Sneh Rana, Kim Garth, Prema Rawat, VJ Joshitha

MI WOMEN: Hayley Matthews, Amelia Kerr, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Amanjot Kaur, Yastika Bhatia (wkt), Sajeevan Sajana, G.Kamalini, Sanskriti Gupta, Shabnim Ismael, Parunika Sisodia

Mumbai Indians Women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur led from the front with a classy 54 from just 33 balls to lead her team to an imposing total of 179-6 and victory by nine  runs in their penultimate WPL group match against the Gujarat Giants Women at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Monday.

The MI Women had already qualified for the knockout stages of the tournament but faced the prospect of winning their remaining two group games in order to finish in first place to gain automatic qualification for the final and avoid the Qualifier between the second and third placed teams, Delhi Capitals Women and the Giants Women.

Barbadian Hayley Matthews (27) and England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt (38) laid the platform for MI’s total with Amanjot Kaur (27 from 15 balls) and Yastika Bhatia (13 from 4) adding the finishing touches to a daunting target.

The Gujarat run-chase looked to be in complete disarray at 92-6 at the start of the 14th over when Deandra Dottin was bowled by Kiwi legspinner Amelia Kerr, but Bharti Fulmali breathed new life into the game with a timeous 61 from just 25 balls (8x4, 4X6) before the meticulous Matthews (3-38) regained control and closed the game out with her off-spin.

MI WOMEN: Hayley Matthews, Yasika Bhatia (wkt), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Ameli Kerr, Sajeevan Sajana, G Kamalini, Amanjot Kaur, Sanskriti Gupta, Shabnim Ismail, Parunika Sisodia.

GUJARAT GIANTS WOMEN: Beth Mooney (wkt), Harleen Deol, Ashleigh Gardner, Deandra Dottin, Kashvee Gautam, Simran Shaikh, Phoebe Litchfield, Bharti Fulmani, Tanuja Kanwar, Meghna Singh, Priya Mishra.

Georgia Voll ensured the UP Warriorz Women exited the WPL with a bang by scoring an unbeaten 99 from just 56 balls in a whopping total of 225-5 which was just enough to earn victory by 12-runs in their group match against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women at the Bharat Ratna Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Saturday night.

The 21-year-old Australian opener collected no less than 17 fours and a six during her 20-over stay at the crease adding 77 for the first wicket with fellow Australian Grace Harris (39 from 22 balls) before Kiran Navgire gave the innings a turbo-boost with an astonishing 46 from just 16 balls with five sixes and two fours.

West Indian Chinelle Henry (19 from 15) and England’s Sophie Ecclestone (13 from 10) were unable to maintain the tempo in the final overs with a record total on the cards but it was sufficient despite a truly remarkable cameo from 31-year-old off-spinning allrounder, Sneh Rana, who smote the first five balls she received for two fours and three sixes.

But when the improbable looked possible she was caught in the deep to depart for 26 from just six deliveries and the game was over.

RCB opener Sabbhineni Meghana heaved a pair of legside fours and sixes in her quickfire 27 from 12 balls and yet another Aussie, Ellyse Perry, plundered six fours in her 15-ball 28 to give RCB early but unlikely hope and Richa Ghosh delivered a wonderful mix of power and acumen in her 69 from from just 33 balls (6x4, 5x6) to keep RCB alive.

In the end a game full of intense drama and excitement meant nothing to the tournament as RCB Women joined the Warriorz as the two teams eliminated while the Gujarat Giants Women and the Mumbai Indians Women (eight points each) attempt to eclipse the Delhi Capitals Women (10 points) at the top of the log for automatic entry to the final.

UP WARRIORZ: Grace Harris, Georgia Voll, Kiran Navgire, Deepti Sharma (captain), Chinelle Henry, Shweta Sehrawat, Poonam Khemnar, Uma Chetry (wkt), Sophie Ecclestone, Kranti Goud, Anjali Sarvani.

RCB WOMEN: Smriti Mandhana (captain), Sabbhineni Meghana, Ellyse Perry, Raghvi Bist, Richa Ghosh (wkt), Kanika Ahuja, Georgis Wareham, Chalotte Dean, Kim Garth, Sneh Rana, Renuka Singh Thakur

Harleen Deol’s unbeaten 70 from 49 balls was good enough to trump Meg Lanning’s 92 from 57 balls as the Gujarat Giants Women chased down the Delhi Capitals Women’s total of 177-5 to win by five-wickets with three balls to spare finishing on 178-5 in 19.3 overs.

Keep calm and trust Harleen 🫡#GGvDC #TATAWPL2025 #GujaratGiants #BringItOn #Adani pic.twitter.com/DlkA2rZHtj

— Gujarat Giants (@Giant_Cricket) March 7, 2025

Lanning was at her sublime best during an opening partnership of 83 with Shafali Verma (40 from 27 balls) but with a base of 108-1 in just 12.1 overs the log-leading Capitals were unable to build the match winning total which would have confirmed a first place finish.

Lanning’s tenure which included 15 fours and a six ended when she was bowled by Deandra Dottin (2-37) who dismissed Jess Jonassen (9) in similar fashion before seamer Meghna Singh (3-35) claimed the next three wickets to put the brakes on an innings which promised 200 plus.

𝙒𝙒𝙒 -- our favourite kind of hat-trick 🧡#GGvDC #TATAWPL2025 #GujaratGiants #BringItOn #Adani pic.twitter.com/En0XfvVRPd

— Gujarat Giants (@Giant_Cricket) March 7, 2025

Beth Mooney’s composed 44 from 35 balls set up the successful run-chase but 26-year-old Deol (9x4, 1x6) completed the job with mighty assistance from Ashleigh Gardner (22 from 13 balls) and Barbadian Dottin who smashed 24 from only 10 balls with a pair of fours and sixes.

The Capitals Women remain in first place on the five-team log with five wins and ten points from their eight matches while the Giants Women climb into second place with their fourth victory and eight points from seven games.

Mumbai Indians Women are in third place, also with eight points but from just six matches.

RCB Women and UP Warriorz Women are four points adrift of the playoff places with four points from six and seven games respectively.

GUJARAT GIANTS WOMEN: Beth Mooney (wkt), Dayalan Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Ashleigh Gardner (captain), Deandra Dottin, Phoebe Litchfield, Bharti Fulmali, Kashvee Gautam, Meghna Singh, Tanuja Kanwar, Priy Mishra.

DELHI CAPITALS WOMEN: Meg Lanning (captain), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Annabel Sutherland, Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen, Sarah Bryve (wkt), Niki Prasad, Minnu Mani, Shikha Pandey, Titas Sadhu.

A superb partnership of 92 off 58 balls between Hayley Matthews and Nat Sciver-Brunt enabled the Mumbai Indians Women to cruise to a six-wicket victory over the UP Warriorz in their Tata WPL match in Lucknow on Thursday.

✌️ Points
✌️ Position in the table

A good day at work! ✌️😎#AaliRe #MumbaiIndians #TATAWPL #UPWvMI pic.twitter.com/nX27y7vrwP

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) March 6, 2025

Mumbai are now just two points behind Delhi Capitals with a game in hand while the basement Warriorz – while mathematically still able to make the playoffs – will need a minor miracle to do so.

Chasing the Warriorz’ total of 150 for nine, Matthews and Sciver-Brunt were in total control in their second-wicket partnership and should probably have finished off the match themselves.

But both players gave their wickets away when cruising to victory.

Sciver-Brunt mistimed a pull off a long-hop from Grace Harris to Deepti Sharma at wide mid-on who pulled off a fine diving catch.

She departed for 37 in 23 balls.

Then Matthews, who had played a series of fine drives and cuts off the back foot as well as some lusty pulls, attempted one blow too many and holed out to mid-on for an excellent 68 off 46 balls, including eight fours and two sixes.

If stand and deliver were a video 💪#AaliRe #MumbaiIndians #TATAWPL #UPWvMI pic.twitter.com/M8Xx6kUKic

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) March 6, 2025

There was a brief hiccup in Mumbai’s progress towards victory when Harmanpreet Kaur fell for four off nine balls, but Amanjot Kaur and Yastika Bhatia then saw their team through to victory comfortably enough with nine balls to spare.

WARRIORZ COLLAPSE

Earlier, the Warriorz, having been put in to bat by Mumbai, made a good start to their innings but then collapsed abjectly.

Harris and Georgia Voll looked in command in their opening stand of 74 from 48 balls but then the home team lost seven wickets for 51 in nine overs after the dismissal of Harris.

Voll, playing in only her second WPL match, struck 12 fours in her encouraging 55 in just 33 balls before she was bowled by Sciver-Brunt attempting an unlikely scoop.

That was the moment when Kiwi legspinner Amelia Kerr took charge as she swept through the middle-order and the tail, claiming her best-ever T20 figures of 5-38 as the home team’s innings went into reverse.

★★★★★ effort from Melie 💙

First fifer for #MumbaiIndians in #TATAWPL 🫡#AaliRe #UPWvMI pic.twitter.com/u7BK2EMRA7

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) March 6, 2025

Only Deepti Sharma (27 in 24 balls) and Sophie Ecclestone with a cameo of 16 at the death, showed much resilience as the remaining batters crumbled.

UP WARRIORZ WOMEN: Grace Harris, Kiran Navgire, Georgia Voll, Vrinda Dinesh, Deepti Sharma (capt), Shweta Sehrawat, Uma Chetry (wk), Chinelle Henry, Sophie Ecclestone, Gouher Sultana, Kranti Goud

MUMBAI INDIANS WOMEN: Yastika Bhatia (wk), Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Amelia Kerr, S Sajana, Amanjot Kaur, G Kamalini, Sanskriti Gupta, Shabnim Ismail, Parunika Sisodia

Beth Mooney belted an imperious unbeaten 96 to set up the Gujarat Giants Women for an emphatic 81-run victory over the UP Warriorz Women in their Tata Women's Premier League (WPL) encounter at the Ekana Stadium, Lucknow, on Monday evening.

The victory lifts the Giants from the basement to joint second. They are now tied on six points with the Mumbai Indians Women. This also puts them in contention for a slot in the play-offs. The Warriorz sink to last place.

The Warriorz won the toss and that was the last thing that went right for them. Deepti Sharma, the Warriorz's captain, inserted the Giants to bat first and Mooney made her rue the decision. Mooney smashed a splendid half-century to steer the Giants to 186 for five.

Deandra Dottin snared a brace of wickets in her first over to pin the Warriorz on the back foot. The home side, playing their first match at the Ekana, eventually mustered 105 in 17.1 overs in their chase.

“It was a chaseable target and the outfield was pretty good. We lost back-to-back wickets and couldn't chase it down. Our top 4-5 need to take initiative and we repeated the mistakes from the last game,” Deepti Sharma, the Warriorz captain, shared after the match.

Mooney put on a masterclass on how to bat at the Ekana. The 31-year-old hammered 17 fours for her sensational unbeaten 96 off 59 balls. She played with a straight bat and scored most of her fours down the ground. The opener also took on the field and pushed for twos. Her unbeaten 96 is now her highest WPL score. Her previous best was the 85 she scored against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2024.

BRILLIANTLY SET UP

“The game was set up brilliantly by Beth Mooney with the fantastic 96. There was a part where she didn't get to those triple figures, but the partnership that she had with Harleen really set up the game and then allowed someone like D-Dog [Dottin] to come in and score some quick runs,” Gardner shared.

The Australian faced 37 balls to reach her second half-ton of the season. This is Mooney's fifth in her WPL career. She is now the joint second-highest scorer in the history of the tournament. She matched Alyssa Healy's 47-ball unbeaten 96, which also came against the Warriorz, in 2023.

Mooney was part of six partnerships and only two of them were substantial. She stitched a brilliant 101-run second-wicket partnership off 68 balls with Harleen Deol.

“The way we started with the bat, obviously Harleen and I have had a really good partnership, set us up beautifully. And then, you know, had some good impetus from Deandra and Ash and Phoebe through the middle. So, that's probably a nice blueprint,” Mooney explained during the post-match presentation. She was adjudged to be the Player of the Match.

Deol looked on course to a milestone of her own but squandered the opportunity. The 26-year-old's knock was undone trying to manufacture a cut shot off Sophie Ecclestone's first over. She fell for a well-played 45 off 32 balls. That was followed by a 44-run third-wicket stand between Mooney and Ashleigh Gardner. Dottin played a 17-run cameo off eight balls when they combined for 21 runs for the fourth wicket.

Dottin trampled on the Warriorz's hopes for a successful chase with the dismissals of Kiran Navgire and Georgia Voll within three deliveries of each other. They were the first two of six batters who fell for single-digit scores. The Warriorz's innings imploded so much that their top six were back in the hutch before they put 50 runs on the board.

"I think we obviously set the tone really early. Deandra, doing what she does best. She's super skilful at being able to swing the ball both ways. A serious skill, and then casually doing what she does best as well," Gardner shared.

Dottin finished with a tidy two wickets for 14 runs in three overs. However, the pick of the bowlers for the Giants was Kashvee Gautam with three wickets for 11 runs in three overs. Tanuja Kanwar was also impressive for her three wickets for 17 runs in 3.1 overs.

Chinelle Henry gave the locals something to cheer for when she slapped three fours and two sixes for her 14-ball 28. Her entertaining knock ended when she holed out to Phoebe Litchfield at deep mid-wicket. The Warriorz's fielders grassed a few catches, but Litchfield made no mistake. She executed all three catching opportunities that came her way.

Grace Harris, Uma Chetry, and Sophie Ecclestone reached double figures, however their efforts were too paltry to be of use in the chase.

UP Warriorz: Kiran Navgire, Georgia Voll, Vrinda Dinesh, Deepti Sharma (capt), Shweta Sehrawat, Grace Harris, Uma Chetry (wk), Chinelle Henry, Sophie Ecclestone, Kranti Goud, Gouher Sultana.

Gujarat Giants: Beth Mooney (wk), D Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Ashleigh Gardner (capt), Phoebe Litchfield, Deandra Dottin, Kashvee Gautam, Bharti Fulmali, Tanuja Kanwar, Meghna Singh, Priya Mishra.

The Delhi Capitals are firmly in the pound seats and were the first team to qualify for the Women’s Premier League playoffs, when they thumped defending champs Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Saturday night.

The Capitals sit top of the log on 10 points, having won five and lost two of their seven games, and if they win their final pool match against Gujarat Giants this coming Friday, they could secure first place.

Finishing top is a massive advantage as you progress straight to the final, while the second and third ranked teams on the log battle it out in the eliminator.

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚍 𝚂𝚞𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚎 👏

Delhi Capitals are the first team to add the '𝑸' in the Points Table 🥳

Which 2 teams will join #DC? 🤨#TATAWPL | #RCBvDC | @DelhiCapitals pic.twitter.com/JKnbl88GQ6

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 1, 2025

Regardless of what happens over the rest of the pool phase the Capitals have secured themselves in the playoffs for the third straight season, however after finishing as runners-up in the first two editions, they will be desperate to go all the way and lift the trophy this time round.

Here we look at where the teams stand and some of the best moments of the past week:

WHERE THEY STAND

Despite being four points ahead of the Mumbai Indians and six points ahead of the other three teams, the Capitals can’t rest on their laurels as anything can still happen.

If they lose their final pool game, they could be passed by Mumbai, or end up in a situation where they finish on level points with two other teams, with UP Warriorz and Gujarat also able to reach 10 points if they win their final three pool games.

In that situation the teams will be split by net run rate, with the best finishing top, so they will be desperate to win their last pool game against Gujarat, which would put them on 12 points, meaning only Mumbai could match them.

WPL season two winners RCB are in the worst position as they sit on four points, level with Warriorz and Gujarat, but have played a game more, meaning at most they can finish on eight points, and then hope other results go their way to clinch a spot in the playoffs.

The Points Table leader add the ‘𝙌’ against them 👀

The Meg Lanning-led Delhi Capitals continue their winning streak 👏

Predict the other 2️⃣ teams for the playoffs ✍#TATAWPL | @DelhiCapitals pic.twitter.com/7yYk2VNzdg

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 1, 2025

TEAM OF THE WEEK

The Capitals are undoubtedly the team of the week as they picked up three thumping wins to power to the top of the log and are now by far the form team in the WPL.

They started by blitzing Gujarat by six wickets with 29 balls remaining on Tuesday, and followed that up with back-to-back nine-wicket wins, over Mumbai on Friday with 33 balls to spare and RCB on Saturday by 27 balls.

The manner of the wins will have clearly sent a warning out to the other teams in the competition, as were absolutely emphatic, with the Capitals not bossed in a single aspect of play in all three matches.

The match of the week however has to go to the Warriorz clash against RCB on Monday, where a last-ball run out sent the game to the only Super Over of this year’s tournament so far, and ended with the Warriorz defending nine runs for an amazing win.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

It was a week dominated by batters and allrounders as a number of sparkling performances stood out.

The highest score of the week went to RCB’s Ellyse Perry, who crashed an unbeaten 90 off 56 balls against the Warriorz, while she also hit 60* off 47 balls against the Capitals, both in losing causes for her struggling team.

English spinner Sophie Ecclestone showed she isn’t just a bowler, when she hammered 33 off 19 balls down the back straight for the Warriorz to get them within inches of beating RCB, only to be run out off the last ball.

She then dusted herself off and conceded just four in the Super Over to get her team the win.

The Capitals Shafali Verma was in imperious form with the bat over the week, striking an unbeaten 80 off 43 balls against RCB, 43 off 28 against Mumbai and 44 off 27 against Gujarat to now sit third on the run scoring charts.

Capitals allrounder Jess Jonassen contributed massively in all three of her sides wins over the week, scoring 61* off 32 balls and taking 1-24 with the ball against Gujarat, picked up 3-18 against Mumbai and scored 61* off 38 against RCB in a brilliant all-round showing.

Arguably the best one-person effort in the week came from Mumbai’s Nat Sciver-Brunt as she picked up 3-18 with the ball and hammered an unbeaten 75 off 44 balls with the bat to lead her team to an eight- wicket win over the Warriorz.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The WPL enters its penultimate week, with six pool games remaining, before the eliminator and final are battled out the following week.

This week sees just four pool matches played, on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and by the end of it the playoffs will likely have been decided.

Monday’s match between Gujarat and the Warriorz is vitally important for both, as they are both level on four points and a win will put them ahead of the bottom two sides, while the team that loses will be in danger of missing out on the playoffs.

Thursday’s match between Mumbai and the Warriorz and Friday’s between the Capitals and Gujarat are great opportunities for the top two ranked teams to solidify their place at the top of the table.

By the time Saturday’s match between the Warriorz and RCB rolls around, both could either be out of the running, or need the win to stay in the playoff hunt, which would make it a must win game for both.

Shafali Verma and Jess Jonassen thumped unbeaten half centuries to power the Delhi Capitals into the Women’s Premier League playoffs after they thrashed Royal Challengers Bengaluru by nine wickets at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday night.

Successive Games Dominated! 👊

Delhi Capitals are through to the playoffs with a commanding 9️⃣-wicket win 👏

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/pTL9a8wDJL#TATAWPL | #RCBvDC | @DelhiCapitals pic.twitter.com/BIgfZ8O8LB

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 1, 2025

The win solidified the Capitals place at the top of the WPL log, although they still need to win their final pool game to secure first place, while defending champs RCB lost their fourth straight game and are now in danger of missing out on the playoffs if they don’t drastically improve their form.

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚍 𝚂𝚞𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚎 👏

Delhi Capitals are the first team to add the '𝑸' in the Points Table 🥳

Which 2 teams will join #DC? 🤨#TATAWPL | #RCBvDC | @DelhiCapitals pic.twitter.com/JKnbl88GQ6

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 1, 2025

It was the Capitals that won the toss and chose to bowl first, with RCB struggling again with the bat as they could only post 147-5, thanks largely to Ellyse Perry’s unbeaten 60 off 47 balls (3x4; 3x6).

That wasn’t nearly enough, despite the loss of an early wicket, as Varma, 80* off 43 (8x4; 4x6) and Jonassen, 61* off 38 (9x4; 1x6) blew away the RCB bowlers in an unbeaten 146-run second wicket partnership to hammer them home with 27 balls to spare.

“Back-to-back games (after beating Mumbai Indians on Friday), we wanted to come back here and continue the momentum,” said captain Meg Lanning after the match.

“It was an excellent performance, we were not at our best in the field, but not for a lack of effort. It was just about starting again today and bringing that same energy.

“Everyone turned up today with a great mindset. We knew we had to play well to beat RCB and we are certainly happy with the performance.”

The Capitals chase got off to a poor start as Lanning struggled, taking 12 balls to score just two runs before Renuka Singh had her caught by Perry, leaving them on 5/1 in the third over.

But that was as good as it got for RCB, as the Capitals counterattacked through Varma and Jonassen, with them cracking 36 off the next three overs to reach 41-1 at the end of the powerplay, and then kicking on to 83-1 at the halfway stage.

There was no stopping the two batters as they brought up the team's hundred in the 12th over, while Jonassen was first to 50 in the same over, as she split the field at short fine leg and deep midwicket for a boundary off Kim Garth to get to the mark.

Varma brought up her half century in the next over in style, coming down the track and launching Georgia Wareham over the deep cover fence, and took charge of the rest of the innings as she slammed her side to a dominant victory.

Doing what she does best! 🔥🔝

For her authoritative knock of 80*(43) in the chase, Shafali Verma is the Player of the Match 🙌

Scorecard ▶ https://t.co/pTL9a8wDJL#TATAWPL | #RCBvDC | @TheShafaliVerma pic.twitter.com/dpIWZiTtY7

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 1, 2025

RCB TOTAL NOT ENOUGH

In the first innings, RCB enjoyed two decent partnerships, but didn’t score at a quick enough rate to get them to a competitive total.

Struggling captain Smriti Mandhana (8) was caught by Lanning off the bowling of Shikha Pandey, to leave them on 9-1 in the second over.

That brought Perry in and she shared in two good stands, of 44 for the second wicket with Danni Wyatt-Hodge (21) and 66 for the third wicket with Raghvi Bist (33).

Wyatt-Hodge was caught behind by keeper Sarah Bryce off the bowling of Marizanne Kapp, and when Bist was stumped by Bryce off the bowling of Shree Charani, RCB were only on 119-3 in the 17th over.

They were unable to cash in down the back end as they only managed another 28 runs off the next 23 balls, while losing two more wickets, to leave them with a total that was not nearly enough in the end.

Pandey, 2-24, and Charani, 2-28, were the key wicket takers for the Capitals, while Kapp was also impressive with 1-18 in her four overs.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU: Smriti Mandhana (capt), Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Ellyse Perry, Richa Ghosh (wk), Raghvi Bist, Kanika Ahuja, Georgia Wareham, Sneh Rana, Kim Garth, Ekta Bisht, Renuka Singh

DELHI CAPITALS: Meg Lanning (capt), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Annabel Sutherland, Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen, Sarah Bryce (wk), Niki Prasad, Minnu Mani, Shikha Pandey, Shree Charani

Meg Lanning carved an outstanding unbeaten half-century to lead the Delhi Capitals Women to a comprehensive nine-wicket victory with 33 balls remaining over Mumbai Indians Women in their Tata Indian Premier League match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday night.

Harmanpreet Kaur, the Mumbai Indians captain, called incorrectly at the toss and Lanning elected to bowl first.

Her bowlers backed up her call by restricting Mumbai Indians to 123-9 in 20 overs.

The Capitals required only 14.3 overs to reach 124-1 and claim victory.

The victory lifts the Capitals to the top of the table. It is also their second win over Mumbai Indians this season.

Delhi Capitals go 🔝 of the #TATAWPL 2025 points table with 8️⃣ points#DC complete the league phase double over #MI this season 👏

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/wVyWwYwJ0S#DCvMI | @DelhiCapitals pic.twitter.com/jFoBss6mUQ

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) February 28, 2025

The two sides met in the season opener and the Capitals executed a heist to grab a last-ball win.

They showed up a better side in Bengaluru.

“We very badly needed this win. We have not been playing our best cricket but were managing wins. Good victory and we will take a lot of confidence (from this),” Jemimah Rodrigues shared after the contest.

MILESTONE FOR LANNING

Lanning creamed nine fours for her unbeaten 60 off 49 deliveries.

This is her eighth WPL half-century and she faced 40 balls to reach the milestone.

The Capitals captain now holds the record for the most 50s in the history of the WPL.

It is both her second half-ton of the season and also her second against Mumbai Indians.

Lanning and Shafali Verma are arguably the most successful opening partnership in the WPL.

They mounted an 85-run opening partnership to see the Capitals home.

Harmanpreet Kaur's bowlers had no answers to the duo. 

Verma, who was seeing the ball well, crunched four fours and three sixes for her 28-ball 43.

After Verma's dismissal, Jemimah Rodrigues (15) kept Lanning company as she shepherded her side home.

BRILLIANT BOWLING FROM THE CAPITALS

The Capitals set up the victory with brilliant bowling earlier in the night.

They consistently hit good areas, which allowed them to pull things back whenever it looked like Mumbai Indians were running away with the game.

Minnu Mani was the Capitals' most successful bowler with three wickets for 17 runs in three overs.

She accounted for Amelia Kerr, Sajeevana Sajana and Sanskriti Gupta.

Jess Jonassen, who came in to bowl in the middle overs, bagged the crucial wickets of Nat Sciver-Brunt, who has been outstanding for Mumbai Indians, Harmanpreet Kaur and G Kamalini. 

She finished with three wickets for 25 runs in four overs.

🔙 to 🔙

For an excellent spell of 3/25, Jess Jonassen wins her second consecutive Player of the Match award 👏🙌

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/wVyWwYwJ0S#TATAWPL | #DCvMI | @DelhiCapitals | @JJonassen21 pic.twitter.com/BG9j4F940x

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) February 28, 2025

Mumbai Indians enjoyed a fruitful spell in the powerplay, scything 31 runs off the first four overs.

However, just when it looked like Mumbai Indians were headed for a massive powerplay total, the Capitals mounted a fightback with the ball.

They dragged down the run rate by stringing dot balls together in the fifth and sixth overs.

The pressure created by the run-drought resulted in two wickets in five deliveries.

“We struggled to score runs in the first six overs. We got some rhythm in between but could not continue. That (score) was not enough and we were definitely short by 30-40 runs,” Harmanpreet Kaur shared after the match.

Harmanpreet Kaur arrived at the crease in no mood to let the Capitals' bowling attack dictate terms. 

The Mumbai Indians captain carved two fours and a single six to swing the pendulum in her side's favour.

However, just when she seemed settled, Jess Jonassen struck, trapping her lbw.

Mumbai Indians' innings petered off at that point. Their middle order was just no match to the Capitals' bowling attack.

Amanjot Kaur tried to mount a lower fightback, however, her effort was not enough to lift them to a defendable total.

Gujarat Giants captain Ash Gardner continued her fantastic Women’s Premier League form as she helped her team clinch their second win of the tournament at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday night.

It was an all-round effort from the skipper that saw her deservedly named player of the match as she picked up 1-22 with the ball in her four overs, and then slammed 58 off 31 balls (6x4; 3x6) with the bat to power her side to a dominant six-wicket win over defending champs Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Clinical bowling performance 🤝 A captain's knock#GG get back to winning ways with a dominant 6️⃣-wicket victory👏💪

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/G1rjRvSkxu#TATAWPL | #RCBvGG | @Giant_Cricket pic.twitter.com/V0294LMcn6

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) February 27, 2025

“Over the last couple of games we didn't bat the way wanted to. Credit to the bowlers tonight, particularly TK (Tanuja Kanwar) and Kashvee (Gautam),” said a delighted Gardner after the match.

“Chasing a low total also gives you the freedom to play your shots and be positive. It's really nice, that first game we should have won (against RCB). But that's cricket, people can outplay you. Today we quietened the crowd, which people want to do here.”

Captain Ashleigh Shines Again 🙌

For her impactful performance, #GG skipper Ashleigh Gardner is adjudged the Player of the Match 🫡👏#TATAWPL | #RCBvGG | @Giant_Cricket pic.twitter.com/nQT8kEjb0A

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) February 27, 2025

Gujarat won the toss and chose to bowl first and their decision was vindicated after they restricted the hosts to a well below par 127-7 in their 20 overs.

Kanwar, 2-16, and Deandra Dottin, 2-31, were the key wicket takers, while Gautam, 1-17, and Gardner helped throttle the RCB batters during their innings.

It was a disastrous start for the hosts as Dottin had opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge (4) trapped LBW in the first over, Gardner picked up the prized scalp of Ellyse Perry for a duck in the second and Kanwar had captain Smriti Mandhana (10) caught by Harleen Deol in the sixth leaving them wobbling on 25-3.

Raghvi Bist, 22 off 19 (1x4; 1x6), and Kanika Ahuja, 33 off 28 (1x4; 2x6), then combined for the innings' biggest partnership of 48, before both fell within six balls of each other, Bist run out and Ahuja popping a return catch to Kanwar as they slipped to 78-5.

Richa Ghosh (9) didn’t last long before being bowled by Gautam, while Georgia Wareham (21*) and Kim Garth (14), struggled to get the ball away, but managed to get RCB over the 120-run mark.

SLOW START TO CHASE

The Gujarat chase then got off to a slow start as Beth Mooney (17) and Dayalan Hemalatha (11) went at under a run a ball, before Renuka Singh accounted for both, having Hemalatha stumped by Ghosh and Mooney caught by Wareham, with the score 32-2 in the seventh over.

That brough Gardner in and she dominated a 34-run stand with Deol (5), who was a virtual spectator, before she was caught by Perry off Wareham, leaving them on 66-3 in the 10th over.

Gardner was then joined by Phoebe Litchfield, 30* off 21 (3x4; 1x6), and they made the game safe with a quickfire 51-run partnership off 30 balls.

Gardner fell just short of the target, sending a return catch back to Wareham in the 16th over, leaving it to Litchfield to hammer them home in the next to get over the line with 21 balls to spare.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU: Smriti Mandhana (capt), Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Ellyse Perry, Raghvi Bist, Richa Ghosh (wk), Kanika Ahuja, Georgia Wareham, Sneh Rana, Kim Garth, Prema Rawat, Renuka Singh

GUJARAT GIANTS: Beth Mooney (wk), Harleen Deol, Dayalan Hemalatha, Ashleigh Gardner (capt), Deandra Dottin, Kashvee Gautam, Phoebe Litchfield, Bharti Fulmali, Tanuja Kanwar, Priya Mishra, Meghna Singh

International stars Hayley Matthews and Nat Sciver-Brunt shared a second wicket stand of 133 to lead the MI Women to an emphatic eight-wicket victory against the UT Warriorz in their Women’s Premier League match at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday evening.

Replying to the Warriorz total of 142 for nine, the result was quickly evident as Barbadian Matthews anchored the run chase with 59 from 50 balls (7x4, 2x6) while the brilliant Sciver-Brunt smashed 75 from only 44 balls with 13 fours to win the game with three overs to spare.

Loving the view 💙 #AaliRe #MumbaiIndians #TATAWPL #MIvUPW 🧿 pic.twitter.com/z026nfLM1R

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) February 26, 2025

Opener Grace Harris crafted a fine 45 from only 26 balls (6x4, 2x6) to set the Warriorz up for a more challenging total along with Vrinda Dinesh (33 from 30), but both batters were dismissed at a crucial time in the middle of the innings and the final total was at least 30 short of hopes and expectations.

England allrounder Sciver-Brunt continued her brilliant recent form with 3-18 at either end of the innings while new-ball partner Shabnim Ismail grabbed 2-33 as well as two boundary catches to put the Warriorz under pressure after Harris’ early onslaught.

80*, 57, 42, 75* 👸💙 #AaliRe #MumbaiIndians #TATAWPL #MIvUPW | Natalie Sciver-Brunt | Orange Cap pic.twitter.com/XqdZTb462M

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) February 26, 2025

The victory returned the MI Women to the top of the five-team log and avenged their Super Over defeat to the Warriorz three days earlier when they conceded 41-runs in the final three overs of normal time and then failed to score just nine for victory in the extra over.

MI Women now lead with six points from four games, level with the Delhi Capitals Women who have played one game more. The Warriorz are still in contention for a playoff game in fourth place on the log having played five games.

MI WOMEN: Yastika Bhatia (wk), Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Sajeevan Sajana, G Kamalini, Sanskriti Gupta, Shabnim Ismail, Jintimani Kalita

UP WARRIORZ: Kiran Navgire, Vrinda Dinesh, Deepti Sharma (captain), Tahlia McGrath, Shweta Sehrawat, Grace Harris, Uma Chetry (wkt), Chinelle Henry, Sophie Ecclestonr, Saima Thakor, Kranti Goud

Jess Jonassen spanked a brilliant half-century to steer the Delhi Capitals to a six-wicket win over the Gujarat Giants in their Tata Women's Premier League (WPL) encounter at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday night.

This victory lifts the Capitals to the top of the table.

Wrapping up a table-topping win! 🔝😎#DC seal the chase in style and become the first team with 3️⃣ wins this season! 👌

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/lb33BTx583#TATAWPL | #DCvGG | @DelhiCapitals pic.twitter.com/Lk67T0hTJG

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) February 25, 2025

It also extends the Giants' winless run at the Chinnaswamy. Last season they lost all their encounters at the venue.

The toss went the Capitals' way and Meg Lanning opted to bowl first.

The Capitals' bowling attack struck early to put the Giants on the back foot and restricted them to 127-9.

Lanning and company made short work of the total, scoring 131-4 in 15.1 overs.

The Capitals promoted Jess Jonassen up the order to cause disruption after Kashvee Gautam and Deandra Dottin had done well with the ball for the Giants in the powerplay.

The new-ball bowlers bowled tight lines and mounted enough pressure to keep the Capitals beneath the required run rate for the first four overs.

"It's nice when something comes off like that. JJ has always shown that she can bat," Lanning shared at the post-match presentations.

Jonassen arrived at the crease after 3.3 overs, faced five deliveries, and decided she had seen enough.

The Australian star faced 26 deliveries to reach her maiden WPL half-century.

The left-hander finished the match unbeaten on 61 off 32 deliveries. Her innings featured nine fours and two sixes.

Clinical with the bat 🤝 Effective with the ball

Jess Jonassen is the Player of the Match for her superb all-round show! 🫡

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/lb33BTx583#TATAWPL | #DCvGG | @DelhiCapitals | @JJonassen21 pic.twitter.com/x1z1b32YWr

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) February 25, 2025

"I was a bit surprised by the opportunity [to bat at No 3], but always happy to take it. Had a bit of luck early, but that's part of the T20 game," Jonassen said as she accepted her Player of the Match award.

Jonassen shared a fruitful 74-run second-wicket partnership with Shafali Verma.

The duo fed off each other as they powered the Capitals to victory.

Verma took her time to settle in, but once she got her eye in, she was destructive.

The 21-year-old smashed three sixes and five fours for her 27-ball 44.

The Capitals were 40 runs away from victory when Ashleigh Gardner trapped her lbw.

“It was difficult in the first three overs of the second innings. The ball was holding and shaping. So the idea was to stay there till the end. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the fifty,” Verma said after the match.

The Capitals wobbled after Verma's dismissal, however, it was not enough to derail their chase.

Jonassen continued on her merry way, making the Giants chase leather.

She was in the company of Marizanne Kapp when the Capitals clinched victory.

KAPP AND PANDEY FELL GIANTS

Earlier in the evening, Kapp and Shikha Pandey gave the Capitals the best start they could. 

The pitch had a tinge of green and the Capitals captain was hopeful that her bowlers would make early inroads into the Giants' batting order.

Statistics also supported her decision.

Kapp and Pandey didn't just make early inroads, they ripped into the Giants top order.

They reduced their opposition to 31-4 at the close of the powerplay.

Powerplay Queen Kappie 👑 pic.twitter.com/BsBt23Gc2x

— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) February 25, 2025

“If you look at DC's bowling line-up, they've got four international quicks. So it was always going to be challenging in the powerplay. They bowled exceptionally well, and put us under pressure,” Ashleigh Gardner, the Giants’ captain, shared after the match.

The Giants' top order crumbled at the sight of the Capitals' new-ball bowlers.

Kapp gave nothing away in her opening spell. She hit the right areas in the powerplay and snared two wickets for eight runs in three overs.

She conceded a single run in her first over, dismissed Harleen Deol and Phoebe Litchfield in a double-wicket maiden, and then bowled a tidy sixth over that cost the Capitals seven runs.

𝐖𝐎𝐎𝐖 😮👌

Marizanne Kapp's double-wicket maiden gives #DC early advantage! 👏🔝

Updates ▶️ https://t.co/lb33BTx583#TATAWPL | #DCvGG | @DelhiCapitals | @kappie777 pic.twitter.com/URcRRCLoKV

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) February 25, 2025

Shika Pandey went for a few runs more than Kapp but still got the job done.

The medium-pacer conceded a handful of boundaries but made amends with a brace of wickets of her own to close her spell with two wickets for 18 runs in three overs.

Like Kapp, the wickets came in the same over.

Deandra Dottin came to the crease with no intention of soaking up the pressure.

She was determined to fight fire with fire. She clubbed five fours on her way to 26 off 24 deliveries.

Bharti Fulmali picked up from where Dottin left. She took a few deliveries to get her eye into the contest before she engaged fifth gear.

She lived up to her reputation as someone who hits a long ball. She scored an unbeaten belligerent 29-ball 40 to lift the Giants to a total over 120.

“We know the potential Fulmali and Kanwar have. To see them take the opportunity and put on a 50-run partnership was fantastic to see,” Gardner said.

Kapp was the pick of the Capitals' bowlers.

The South African star took two wickets for 17 runs in four overs.

Pandey and Annabel Sutherland also bagged a brace each, however, they went at higher economy rates.

DELHI CAPITALS: Shafali Verma, Meg Lanning (capt), Jemimah Rodrigues, Annabel Sutherland, Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen, Sarah Bryce (wk), Niki Prasad, Minnu Mani, Titas Sadhu, Shikha Pandey.

GUJARAT GIANTS: Beth Mooney (wk), Phoebe Litchfield, Harleen Deol, Ashleigh Gardner (capt), Deandra Dottin, Bharti Fulmali, Simran Shaikh, Tanuja Kanwar, Kashvee Gautam, Priya Mishra, Meghna Singh.

Sophie Ecclestone was the hero for the UP Warriorz when she played the dominant role in helping her team beat the RCB Women in the competition’s first Super Over climax in their Tata WPL clash at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday.

#UPW clinch a historic #TATAWPL game! 👏

They win the first-ever Super Over to make it 🔙 to 🔙 victories! 🥳

Scorecard ▶ https://t.co/6637diSP2I#RCBvUPW pic.twitter.com/nNqg42oQqq

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) February 24, 2025

In a packed stadium awash with excited RCB supporters, Ecclestone bowled a brilliant over for the Warriorz with RCB needing just nine runs to win.

She conceded only four runs to RCB’s Richa Ghosh and skipper Smriti Mandhana after the Warriorz had scored eight runs in their over.

𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗲! 🔝

A special performance from a memorable match! 💛#TATAWPL | #RCBvUPW | @UPWarriorz | @Sophecc19 pic.twitter.com/uXMB2Q4ubg

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) February 24, 2025

Ecclestone's achievement was not restricted to the Super Over.

Earlier, with the Warriorz needing 18 to win off the final over, she smacked two sixes and a four before being run out off the final ball with the scores tied.

The left-arm spinner struck 33 in 19 balls, including a four and four sixes, as she earned her team an unlikely reprieve.

For her heroics 👇

With bat and ball ✅
In the field ✅
In the final over ✅
In the Super Over ✅

Sophie Ecclestone is the Player of the Match in #RCBvUPW 🙌👌#TATAWPL | @UPWarriorz | @Sophecc19 pic.twitter.com/va8bx5csBT

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) February 24, 2025

The Warriorz had earlier won the toss and put the home team into bat.

Ellyse Perry, enjoying a golden run of form, struck an undefeated 90 in 56 balls (9x4s, 3x6s).

In the course of her innings she became the biggest run-getter in the WPL, surpassing Meg Lanning and it was a surprise that she was not chosen as one of her team's batters in the Super Over.

Together with Danni Wyatt-Hodge (57 off 41 balls) she added 94 off 66 balls for the second wicket.

Nobody else reached double figures as RCB totalled an impressive 180-6 in their 20 overs.

The Warriorz were always ahead of the run-rate in their reply, but they lost wickets regularly and, as the climax approached, it never seemed likely that they would get over the line – until Ecclestone proved the team’s double saviour in normal time and in the tense final over.

RCB WOMEN: Smriti Mandhana (capt), Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Ellyse Perry, Raghvi Bist, Richa Ghosh (wk), Kanika Ahuja, Georgia Wareham, Ekta Bisht, Kim Garth, Sneh Rana, Runuka Singh

UP WARRIORZ: Kiran Nargire, Vrinda Dinesh, Deepti Sharma (capt) Tahlia McGrath, Shweta Sehrawat, Grace Harris, Uma Chetry (wk), Chinelle Henry, Sophie Ecclestone, Saima Thakor, Kranti Goud

Ten days into the second edition of the Women’s Premier League there are just two points separating the five teams with defending champions Royal Challengers Women atop the log on run-rate ahead of the powerful Mumbai Indians Women and Delhi Capitals Women, although Delhi have played four games to the others three.

But UP Warriors and Gujarat Giants Women both have a solitary victory from their three games played and there are clearly no favourites or underdogs for the knockout rounds at this stage although RCB and MI have displayed intimidating power in their two victories.

Match of the week: It was hard to look beyond the Mumbai Indians Women getting past the Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women with just four wickets and a single ball remaining at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaulru. Ellyse Perry’s brilliant 81 from just 43 balls set RCB on their way to an impressive 167-7 but captain Harmanpreet Kaur (50) kept Mumbai in the hunt. But at 144-6 with 24 runs required from the final 15 balls the match was in the balance but Amanjot Kaur (34*) and 16-year-old No 8 G.Kamalini (11*) kept their nerves to get the job done.

Batter of the week: Honours even between Smriti Mandhana and Ellyse Perry, both of whom scored 81 off 47 and 43 balls respectively for MI Women and RCB Women – the first led to victory but the second fell just short.

Bowler of the week: West Indian off-spinning allrounder, Hayley Matthews, has been the most consistently in-form player in the Women’s game for the last couple of years with a seemingly endless flow of match-winning performances at domestic and international level. Her 3-16 helped MI Women swat away the Gujarat Giants Women for just 120 – although she was helped by Shabnim Ismail’s 1-17 from her four overs.

Play of the week: A player’s strength can also be their weakness and it was never more obvious than with Proteas captain Laura Wolvaardt’s famed and fabled cover drive. Few bowlers know her strength as well as former Proteas teammate, Shabnim Ismail, who set an unusual Power Play field with a deep backward point and bowled a delicious, wide half volley and duly watched the current national captain lash it straight to the fielder.

What to look forward to: A slow start by pre-tournament underdogs, UP Warriorz, was mitigated by a resounding 33-run victory against Delhi on Saturday – they face favourites RCB and MI at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday and Wednesday in two games which could either eliminate them or turn the tournament on its head.

An astonishing innings of 62 from just 23 balls including eight sixes from Jamaican allrounder Chinelle Henry blasted the UP Warriorz to a total of 177-9 which was good enough to earn victory by 33-runs in their WPL match against the Delhi Capitals Women at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.

Delhi Capitals were dismissed for 144 in 19.3 overs with Indian fast bowler Kranti Goud (4-25) and Australian offspinner Grace Harris (4-15) claiming four wickets apiece.

The Warriorz, bottom of the five-team log after two opening losses, were once again struggling at 109-7 with just 4.2 overs remaining after being asked to bat first before Henry’s remarkable counter-attack which also included a couple of fours giving her 56 runs in boundaries alone.

Australian Tahlia McGrath contributed a pedestrian 24 from 23 balls in an attempt to stabilise the innings with wickets falling regularly – Marizanne Kapp claimed 2-18 – but it looked to be a futile effort before Henry’s incredible blitz.

Jemimah Rodrigues batted beautifully in the run-chase to post 56 from 35 balls but the target proved beyond the DC Women especially when the dangerous Kapp (9) was caught at midwicket miscuing a pull against – Henry, of course.

Tailenders Niki Prasad (18) and Shikha Pandey (15) added a veneer of respectability to the score which plummeted to 111-7 but the Warriorz were not to be denied a well-deserved victory to keep their play-off hopes alive.

The top three teams (RCB Women, MI Women and Delhi Capitals Women) all have four points while the bottom two (UP Warriorz and Gujarat Giants Women) have two points in a now deliciously congested log keeping every team very much alive.

UP WARRIORZ: Kiran Navgire, Vrinda Dinesh, Deepti Sharma (captain), Tahlia McGrath, Shweta Sehrawat, Grace Harris, Chinelle Henry, Sophie Ecclestone, Uma Chetry (wkt), Kranti Goud, Saima Thakor.

CAPITALS WOMEN: Shafali Verma, Meg Lanning (captain), Jemimah Rodrigues, Annabel Sutherland, Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen, Sarah Bryce (wkt), Shikha Pandey, Arundhati Reddy, Minnu Mani, Niki Prasad.

An all-round performance from Amanjot Kaur and a superb finish from 16-year-old G Kamalini helped Mumbai Indians pick up a thrilling four-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their Women’s Premier League match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday night.

Kaur was brilliant with the ball, with her 3-22 in three overs helping Mumbai restrict RCB to a very chaseable 167-7 in their 20 overs batting first, before she struck an unbeaten 34 off 27 balls (2x4; 2x6) to help her side get over the line with a ball to spare.

A superb chase as Mumbai Indians secure their 2️⃣nd win in a row! 🙌 🙌

The Harmanpreet Kaur-led unit bag 2️⃣ points as they beat #RCB by 4 wickets! 👏 👏

Scorecard ▶ https://t.co/WIQXj6JCt2 #TATAWPL | #RCBvMI | @mipaltan pic.twitter.com/NfA75uQzK3

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) February 21, 2025

Kamalini made history earlier in the week when she made her debut for Mumbai against Gujarat Giants, making her the youngest ever debutant in the WPL at the age of 16 years and 213 days.

A few days later she played a starring role as her unbeaten 11 off eight balls, during a 26-run seventh-wicket stand with Kaur, got Mumbai home. Indeed, it was her boundary off the penultimate ball that won the match.

That will be a huge boost for the teenager, who was a part of the victorious Indian U19 Women’s World Cup winning team that beat the South African U19s in the final at the start of February.

“It feels very good (to win the match for the team). I knew that they might give an over to Kanika and against offspinners I have more options,” said a relieved Kaur after the match.

“I felt that if I stayed there, we could win the match. When she (Kamalini) came in, I knew I had to make her settle by taking singles and that I had to target the 19th over if we were to win.”

With a finishing act and an impressive spell, Amanjot Kaur is the Player of the Match in the #RCBvMI clash 🏆👌

Scorecard ▶ https://t.co/WIQXj6KaiA #TATAWPL | @mipaltan pic.twitter.com/Hisr02qBJc

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) February 21, 2025

At the start of play Mumbai won the toss and chose to field and after a blazing start from RCB captain Smriti Mandhana, 26 off 13 (4x4; 1x6), they managed to reel them back in.

Mandhana crunched 26 of her team's 29 runs within the first three overs, but then edged Shabnim Ismail behind to keeper Yastika Bhatia to become the first to fall.

That started a procession as Danni Wyatt-Hodge (9), Raghvi Bist (1) and Kanika Ahuja (1) all followed soon after, as RCB slumped to 57-4 in the eighth over.

Ellyse Perry, 81 off 43 (11x4; 2x6), then received some good support from Richa Ghosh (28) as they looked to rebuild the innings with a 50-run fifth-wicket stand.

Just as they were looking to build a good platform Kaur entered the stage, breaking the stand when she bowled Ghosh.

She also had Georgia Wareham (6) caught and although Perry continued on with the lower order, taking them to a decent score, she fell off the penultimate ball of the innings, caught by Ismail off Kaur.

A FLURRY OF WICKETS

The Mumbai chase got off to a decent start despite the early wicket of Bhatia (8) in the second over, as Nat Sciver-Brunt, 42 off 21 ((9x4) and Hayley Matthews (15) shared in a 57-run second-wicket stand.

A flurry of wickets then saw the back of the two set batters and Amelia Kerr (2) as Mumbai slipped to 82-4 in the 10th over, before captain Harmanpreet Kaur, 50 off 38 (8x4; 1x6), and her namesake Amanjot combined for a 62-run stand to get their side close.

Wareham, who finished with superb figures of 3-21 in her four overs, ruffled some feathers by having Harmanpreet caught behind by keeper Ghosh, and trapped new batter Sajeevan Sajana LBW first ball to reduce Mumbai to 144-6 in the 18th over.

But Kaur and Kamalini held their nerve over the closing overs to ease their team to a valuable win over the previously unbeaten competition defending champs.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU: Smriti Mandhana (capt), Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Ellyse Perry, Raghvi Bist, Richa Ghosh (wk), Kanika Ahuja, Georgia Wareham, Ekta Bisht, Kim Garth, VJ Joshitha, Renuka Singh

MUMBAI INDIANS WOMEN: Yastika Bhatia (wkt), Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Amelia Kerr, Amanjot Kaur, G Kamalini, Sajeevan Sajana, Sanskriti Gupta, Shabnim Ismail, Parunika Sisodia