Mumbai Indians to Play Against Delhi Capitals in the Finals
Mumbai Indians Women, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, to their second TATA WPL final following their win over Gujarat Giants Women. A dominant victory in the eliminator sets up an interesting final against the Delhi Capitals Women. Delhi booked a direct entry into the final by topping the group stage.
Mumbai Indians: Matthews, Sciver-Brunt show
Mumbai and Gujarat had the last chance to play in the finals. Ash Gardner won the toss and chose to bowl first. Gujarat Giants suffered a huge blow ahead of the match. Deandra Dottin was ruled out due to an injury.
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It was a slow start for the women in blue. They scored just above six runs per over in the powerplay and lost Yastika Bhatia in the process. Danielle Gibson took her first wicket in the WPL.
Hayley Matthews and Nat Sciver-Brunt have been a dominant force in women’s cricket. These two created a partnership of 133 runs in just 71 balls. Both players were striking over 150. Matthews’ wicket fell at the start of the 17th over. The West Indies captain scored 77 runs in 50 balls.
Harmanpreet Kaur joined the party and smashed 36 runs in just 12 balls. Sciver-Brunt played a superb knock of 77 runs in just 41 balls. Gibson took two wickets and Kashvee Gautam took one wicket. Mumbai batters posted a massive total of 213 on the board.
Partnership struggles, and good bowling led to Gujarat’s downfall
Gujarat Giants struggled to find an opening partner with Beth Mooney. Gibson was a part of another experiment. Mooney went after the bowlers while chasing this big target. She just added six runs on the board and gave her wicket to Ismail in the very first over.
Harleen Deol came in next and was run out on just eight runs. Ashleigh Gardner also struggled with the bat. She also managed to score just eight runs. Phoebe Litchfield added a cameo knock but all batters struggled to score big. Gujarat fell short by 47 runs. Matthews delivered a superb man-of-the-match performance by taking three wickets. Amelia Kerr took two, Sciver-Brunt and Ismail chipped in with a wicket each.
Who will win the final?
The tension will be high in both camps. These two are the most balanced teams in the WPL history. Delhi Capitals are the unluckiest team. They have reached the final of the WPL every season. In the first season, Delhi lost to Mumbai. Last year, they lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore. This is a final that Meg Lanning & Co. cannot afford to lose.
According to the bookmakers, Mumbai Indians are the favorites to win this match. The odds are 5/6. Delhi Capitals Women have odds of 21/20. These two faced each other twice this season. Delhi chased down 165 runs on the last ball with two wickets remaining. In the next meeting, Mumbai just managed to put 123 runs on the board. Delhi chased down the target with nine wickets in hand and more than five overs to spare. Lanning’s team will be ready to lift their first WPL title.
