Mumbai Indians Women scripted history on Sunday at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai as they defeated the Delhi Capitals Women in the final of the Women’s Premier League 2023 to lift the trophy for the first time. It was a bowlers’ game as MI-W chased 132 runs in 19.3 overs with seven wickets in hand.
Mumbai was brilliant since the beginning of the T20 Championship. The team finished the league round in second place in the standings with just two losses from eight wins and defeated UP Warriorz in the Eliminator game by a massive 72 runs to book a berth in the final.
Speaking of Delhi Women, they earned direct qualification to the summit clash after finishing in first place in the points table with 12 points and a net run rate higher than that of Mumbai. The batters are to be blamed for the team’s loss in the first season as 131 was never a good target to defend.
The other team who earned a qualification to the playoffs is UP Warriorz, as they collected eight points by losing and winning four games each.
Meanwhile, the Royal Challengers Bangalore Women and Gujarat Giants failed to make an impact. The Smriti Mandhana-led side won two of eight group games to finish in the second-last place while the Giants also won the same number of games to languish at the bottom.
Let’s take a look at the Team of the Tournament of the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League.
Openers: Shafali Verma (Delhi Capitals Women) and Meg Lanning (Delhi Capitals Women)
The young Indian opening batter, Shafali Verma, was the player to watch out for in the T20 extravaganza. The 19-year-old was one of the top run-scorers for her team with 252 runs in nine games at an average of over 31 and an excellent strike rate of over 185.
Shafali Verma was a standout player for Delhi Capitals Women in WPL 2023
Shafali’s highest score in the tournament came during a league game against Royal Challengers Bangalore when she smacked 84 runs off just 45 balls.
The other opening batter to make it to this list is Meg Lanning. The Delhi Capitals skipper caused carnage in the league by smashing a whopping 345 runs in nine games at an average of 49.29. She ended up as the top run-getter in the WPL and deserves a lot of credit for the Capitals’ final run.
Middle-order batters: Nat Sciver-Brunt (Mumbai Indians Women), Harmanpreet Kaur (Mumbai Indians Women), and Harleen Deol (Gujarat Giants)
Mumbai Indians lifted the T20 trophy courtesy of Nat Sciver-Brunt. The number three batter earned the player of the match award in the final clash for adding 60 runs to the scoreboard when her team was given the task of chasing 132 runs.
The English veteran was also the second-highest run-scorer with 332 runs in ten games at a strike rate of 140.08 and an average of under 67.
Another Mumbai Indians batter who was successful in leaving her impact is Harmanpreet Kaur. She not only impressed with her leadership skills but also actively contributed to the team’s win by spilling her magic with the bat on the field. The 34-year-old finished as the second-highest run-scorer for the winners with 281 runs in eight innings.
The only batter from the Gujarat Giants to feature in this esteemed list is Harleen Deol. The 24-year-old was one of the biggest revelations for her franchise, as she single-handedly carried the team’s batting line-up throughout the season. She made headlines by scoring 202 runs at an average of 28.86 in eight T20 matches.
All-rounders: Hayley Matthews (Mumbai Indians Women), Shikha Pandey (Delhi Capitals Women) and Shreyanka Patil (Royal Challengers Bangalore Women)
Hayley Matthews took home the player of the series award
Hayley Matthews was the standout performer in the Women’s Premier League 2023 as she took home the player of the series award. The Mumbai Indians batter ended up as the fifth-highest run-getter in the tournament with a total of 271 runs to her name in ten wickets at an average of over 30.
Hayley was absolutely sensational with the ball as well as she topped the wicket-taking charts in WPL 2023. The West Indies Stalwart picked 16 wickets in ten matches at an average of 12.62 and an impressive economy rate of 5.94. Matthews delivered a good performance in the final against Delhi by scalping three wickets in four overs while conceding only five runs in four overs.
The Delhi Capitals Women reached the final and the all-rounder Shikha Pandey had a big role to play in it. She exhibited prime form both with the bat and ball to ensure DC’s top place in the points table.
Pandey picked up a total of ten wickets at an average of 21.10 and an economy rate of 6.59. Her best batting performance came in the final against Mumbai Indians as she hammered 27 runs off 17 balls to take DC to a score of 131 runs in 20 overs.
Another all-rounder to make it to this list is Shreyanka Patil, the only Royal Challengers Bangalore player to make the list. It would not be wrong to say that the youngster was a revelation in WPL 2023.
She batted lower in the batting order for the entire tournament and ended up with an impressive 62 runs at a strike rate of 151.22. Patil also scalped six wickets at an economy rate of 9.85.
Bowlers: Issy Wong (Mumbai Indians Women), Saika Ishaque (Mumbai Indians Women), Kim Garth (Gujarat Giants)
After Hayley Matthews, another Mumbai Indians bowler who made an impact in the Women’s Premier League is Issy Wong. The right-arm fast-medium bowler picked up a total of 15 wickets in ten games at a stunning economy rate of 6.46 and an average of 14.00. Wong impressed in the final as well by taking a three-wicket haul.
Issy Wong was supported by Saika Ishaque throughout the league. The Indian spinner failed to pick a wicket in the final but overall in the league, she ended up as the fifth-highest wicket-taker with 15 wickets. Saika maintained an economy rate of 7.01 in the competition after bowling in ten games.The only Gujarat Giants bowler to feature in the Best XI is Kim Garth. The Irish player made headlines in her first game of WPL 2023 by taking a five-wicket haul against UP Warriorz. She ended the season with 11 wickets in her pocket in just seven games at an average of 17.55.