26 March,2023 06:07 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
WPL 2023 Final, DC vs MI (Pic Courtesy: @wplt20/Twitter)
Title favourites Mumbai Indians will aim to cap their stupendous Women's Premier League (WPL) season by overcoming a rampant Meg Lanning side in the final of the inaugural edition of the tournament on Sunday.
Delhi and Mumbai have registered comprehensive wins against each other in the group stage and finished with identical 12 points, with only the net run rate separating them at the top of the table. Mumbai Indians stamped their authority first by thrashing Delhi by nine wickets, with the latter returning the favour after scoring an identical win. Mumbai boast of an excellent track record at Brabourne stadium, having won all three games so far, while Delhi have two wins and a loss at the venue.
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Surprisingly enough, form has deserted the Indian skipper after three blistering half-centuries earlier on in the tournament. Not only that, Mumbai's top-order failure laid bare once again in the all-important Eliminator and had it not been for Nat Sciver-Brunt's unbeaten 72 against UP Warriorz on Friday, the script of the tournament could have been different today. With Kaur scoring not more than 14 runs in the Eliminator, things could have gone downhill for the team, but luckily Sciver-Brunt made the most of the dropped catch to make a mockery of the Warriorz bowling.
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On the other hand, Australian stalwart Meg Lanning will look to exploit Harmanpreet's poor run with the bat in the most effective manner, though playing in front of a partisan crowd at the Brabourne could be an uphill task. Delhi, after starting sedately, gradually surged up the tally and ended up displacing Mumbai Indians at the top, thanks mainly to the performance of the skipper herself and all-rounder Marizanne Kapp.
Wicket-keeper: Yastika Bhatia
Batters: Harmanpreet Kaur, Meg Lanning, Jemimah Rodrigues
All-rounders: Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt (vc), Marizanne Kapp (c), Alice Capsey, Amelia Kerr
Bowlers: Shikha Pandey, Issy Wong
Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium is known to favour batting with very little help for the bowlers. The average first innings score here is 157 but can go up to almost 170 in this tournament with teams batting second winning six of ten games in WPL 2023 here.
Delhi Capitals: Meg Lanning(capt.), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Alice Capsey, Jess Jonassen, Arundhati Reddy, Taniya Bhatia(w), Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav, Jasia Akhtar, Laura Harris, Tara Norris, Minnu Mani, Aparna Mondal, Titas Sadhu, Sneha Deepthi
Mumbai Indians: Hayley Matthews, Yastika Bhatia(w), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur(capt.), Melie Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar, Issy Wong, Amanjot Kaur, Humaira Kazi, Jintimani Kalita, Saika Ishaque, Heather Graham, Chloe Tryon, Dhara Gujjar, Sonam Yadav, Neelam Bisht, Priyanka Bala
Delhi Capitals: Meg Lanning (capt.), Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Jess Jonassen/Tara Norris, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav
Mumbai Indians: Hayley Matthews, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Melie Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar, Issy Wong, Amanjot Kaur, Humaira Kazi, Jintimani Kalita, Saika Ishaque
Match begins at 7:30 PM IST.