The blockbuster women’s T20 cricket fest came to an end today with Mumbai Indians Women (MUM-W) taking on Delhi Capitals Women (DC-W) in the grand Women’s Premier League (WPL 2025) final. Notably, the thrilling encounter was held at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.
Visiting captain Meg Lanning won the toss and invited the hosts to bat first. Despite not getting off to a flyer, Mumbai recovered well in the last stages of the match and gave Delhi a target of 150 runs. MUM-W captain Harmanpreet Kaur bailed her team out of early trouble with a gritty 66-run knock and stitched a crucial 89-run partnership with Natalie Sciver-Brunt for the third wicket. Natalie played a vital 30-run cameo to help her captain. As a result, Mumbai Indians Women finished with 149/7 on the board.
Talking Points
1. Did Lanning fail to bat long enough to keep her team in hunt?
In reply to the run chase, skipper Meg Lanning started strong as she was looking to set the tempo for the rest of the Delhi Capitals Women’s batting unit. However, before she could convert her start into a big knock, all-rounder Natalie Sciver-Brunt dismissed her in the second over of the run chase. In the following over, pacer Shabnim Ismail trapped opener Shafali Varma in front, to boost Mumbai’s chances further.
2. Mumbai spinners kept adding pressure to keep things in control
The top four batters of DC-W were back in the hut by the midway of their innings as spinner Saika Ishaque and Amelia Kerr further squeezed their batters by not allowing them to score freely. Though the middle order batter Jemimah Rodrigues tried holding the fort from one end by counter-attacking Kerr, she eventually gave her wicket away in a bid to up the scoring run rate. At that stage, DC-W were staring down the barrel with the score reading 67/5.
3. Marizanne Kapp’s and Niki Prasad’s resistance in vain
Star all-rounder Marizanne Kapp, after bowling decently, tried to take the game deep and kept fighting before she perished after scoring 35 runs. Ismail’s disciplined bowling led Kapp to take her chances in the 18th which was bowled by Sciver-Brunt. Youngster Niki Prasad’s resistance too went in vain as Delhi Capitals lost their third final of the Women’s Premier League by a close margin of eight runs to lift the WPL title for a record second time.
Meanwhile, here’s what the captains and the Player of the Match (POTM) said about how the final panned out on Saturday.
Also Check- Twitter Reactions: Mumbai Indians Women win second WPL title as Delhi Capitals suffer their third final loss in a row
Who Said What?
Meg Lanning, Delhi Capitals Women and losing skipper said
We have had another good season but unfortunately could not get over the line. Full credit to Mumbai – they have been excellent throughout and thoroughly deserved their win. We could not get it together with the bat, 150 was a good target for us. Another partnership for a couple of overs might have given us a chance. We are all pretty disappointed. (On having a long break before the final) I don’t think there is any right or wrong way to do it and about performing on the night, and they were too good for us tonight. We have not been able to put our best performances on the board in the final, which is disappointing but that is cricket. We prepped to do as well as we could. It has been different each time. We put ourselves in a good position but you win some, you lose some.
Harmanpreet Kaur, Mumbai Indians Women, winning skipper & POTM said
It was a great team effort. I would like to congratulate Delhi team, it was not easy for us. At the end of the day, you feel happy, really happy with the way we played. We fought till the last ball, all about being there and doing the right things again and again. (On her batting approach) It was not easy when I went in. But I had that belief that if I stayed there and kept rotating strike, and with Nat there, I did not need to take risks. Just wanted to support her. Partnership was amazing, wanted to keep things simple and easy. We took calculated risks and that helped us. (On their score) 150 was not a decent total, but in matches like that, pressure games, it always looks like 180 and credit goes to our bowlers. They had that belief they could give us breakthroughs in the powerplay. They (Ismail and Sciver-Brunt) created that opportunity for us and got us the game. Really happy the way everyone bowled in the team today. We made things very clear for everyone, had one-to-one meetings to clear their roles. We knew we had four experienced bowlers, and we knew whoever is in the game that day, we will give them the opportunity to do that (bowl those four overs) for us. They (Ishaque, Amanjot, Gupta) knew their roles and really enjoyed a lot playing with them. It (this win) means a lot. First season, we tried to do everything right. When we met this season, we discussed how things did not go right (last season). We wanted to keep things simple and as a team, we did that. Really happy we got support from the support staff, and really happy the way we played.
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