When Mumbai Indians’ (MI) Nat-Sciver Brunt ramped Delhi Capitals’ (DC) Alice Capsey for four at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium, less than 12 months ago, the all-rounder had ensured that her side would forever have a piece of history all for themselves in the years to come- as the first-ever champions of the Women’s Premier League (WPL).
On Friday, the two finalists from last season will meet again at Bengaluru’s M. Chinnaswamy Stadium to kickstart a new season of the tournament, that promises to be bigger and better than 2023.
At the auction held in December, MI opted to strengthen their Indian core, purchasing four Indian players (Sajana S, Amandeep Kaur, Fatima Jaffer and Keerthana Balakrishnan) and the experienced South African seamer Shabnim Ismail.
Like last year, their batting core will revolve around Hayley Mathews and Sciver-Brunt at the top and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, in desperate need to regain form, Amelia Kaur in the middle, followed by the late hitting prowess of Pooja Vastrakar. Yastika Bhatia’s role as the wicketkeeper-batter cannot be undermined and MI will hope that she can pair up well with Mathews at the top to give the side a good start in the Powerplay overs.
They will also hope for Mathews, Issy Wong and Saika Ishaque to replicate the season they had with the ball in 2023, where they took 16, 15 and 15 wickets respectively to ensure that batting might was complemented suitably with the ball.
DC made the fewest purchases of all teams at the auction, but made unarguably the costliest buy in all rounder Annabel Sutherland, who, after being released by Gujarat Giants at the end of the last season, was brought by the Meg Lanning-led side for Rs 2 crore to bolster the batting in the middle and offer support to the likes of Marizanne Kapp with the ball.
But like in 2023, if DC are to go deep in the tournament, the top three of Lanning, Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues have to score big to ensure the pressure isn’t as much on Kapp, Sutherland and the rest.
DC will also hope that Titas Sadhu, who picked up a four-wicket haul in opening T20I against Australia in January, can have a fruitful season with the ball and complement the likes of Shikha Pandey, Kapp and Capsey.
The WPL will also mark the first tournament for Lanning since she announced her retirement from international cricket and DC and MI will hope that they can kick off the second edition of the tournament with a bang in Bengaluru.
Opening ceremony to light up Chinnaswamy before cricket fireworks
The watching public at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium will be treated to a glittering opening ceremony before the first ball is bowled on Friday with some of the leading names from Bollywood such as Shah Rukh Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Tiger Shroff and others set to entertain the crowds before the cricketing action begins between two well-matched teams.
What: Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals, Match 1, Women’s Premier League 2024
When: February 23, 2024, 8 PM IST
Where: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
Mumbai Indians
MI will have the least disruption, among all teams, before the first game and could well go with the same side that played in the WPL final last year.
Likely playing XI: Hayley Mathews, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Amelia Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar, Issy Wong, Amanjot Kaur, Jintimani Kalita, Humaira Kazi, Saika Ishaque.
Delhi Capitals
The inclusion of Sutherland will add all round quality to the side and they will hope that the Indian contingent can step up and be counted right through the tournament.
Likey playing XI: Shafali Verma, Meg Lanning (captain), Jemimah Rodrigues, Alice Capsey, Annabel Sutherland, Marizanne Kapp, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Arundhati Reddy, Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav, Titas Sadhu.
QUOTE UNQUOTE
“I’ve not been to Bangalore before so it’s been nice to experience a new city and I’ve personally thoroughly enjoyed it thus far. I know the other girls have as well and as you know anywhere in India is cricket mad, love their cricket and support it extremely well and you know that that will certainly play out as the games go here but I think it’s great that you know the WPL is able to move around and be in different cities to expose,” Meg Lanning on playing at a different venue in WPL 2024.
“She (Shabnim Ismail) is a great player and she has done well for her country and whichever leagues that she plays for. She brings in a lot of experience and she is someone who can bowl with good pace and that’s what we have been looking for,” Harmanpreet Kaur on the addition of Shabnim Ismail to the MI squad.
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