Mumbai Indians emerged victorious as the champions of the inaugural Women's Premier League (WPL) on Sunday, March 26, by defeating the Delhi Capitals (DC) by seven wickets at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.
DC's innings can be divided into two halves: the first 16 overs and the last four. During the first 16 overs, the Capitals found themselves in a precarious situation. With the exception of Meg Lanning, no other batter appeared to be secure in the middle. Unfortunately, just when Lanning was needed to stay until the end, she was run out after scoring 35 runs off 29 balls with five fours.
Issy Wong made a stunning start to the match, taking out Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, and Jemimah Rodrigues in her first two overs. Amelia Kerr also proved to be a force to be reckoned with, finishing with impressive figures of 4-0-18-2. Hayley Matthews then took over, expertly tightening the screws on the DC batters with a masterful spell of 4-2-5-3. Matthews' performance also earned her the title of leading wicket-taker of the tournament.
Just when it seemed that DC would be bowled out for a subpar score, Shikha Pandey and Radha Yadav stepped up to the plate. In the last four overs of their innings, the duo added an impressive 52 runs for the 10th wicket off just 24 balls. Both batters remained unbeaten on 27, providing a much-needed boost to their team's total.
Radha ended DC's innings in a spectacular fashion, hitting two consecutive sixes off Nat Sciver-Brunt. Wong started off strong, bowling with great intensity in her first three overs, but Pandey and Radha managed to score 20 runs off her final over.
MI's run-chase didn't begin as smoothly as they had hoped. Radha was the one to give DC their first breakthrough, dismissing Yastika Bhatia who hit a full toss straight to Alice Capsey at deep mid-wicket. Matthews managed to hit three fours and looked promising, but Jess Jonassen ultimately took her wicket.
After a power-play, the Capitals had the upper hand, reducing Mumbai to 26 for two. The onus was then on Harmanpreet Kaur and Nat Sciver-Brunt to steady the ship for their team. However, Mumbai stepped on the gas with a flurry of boundaries in the first 11 overs.
The duo brought up their 50-run partnership off 53 balls, but in the last five overs, MI still needed 45 runs at a required run rate of nine. DC struck a body blow after Pandey sent back Harmanpreet with a brilliant throw. Harmanpreet had scored 37 runs off 39, leaving Mumbai Indians still some distance away from their maiden WPL title.
Sciver-Brunt brought up her fifty off 52 balls, but MI still needed 17 runs off 11 balls. The tension was palpable as Amelia Kerr hit Jess Jonassen for a four, bringing the target down to 10 off eight balls.
In the end, Sciver-Brunt stayed unbeaten on 60 off 55 with seven fours and hit the winning boundary as MI chased down the target with three balls to spare.
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