The second edition of the Women’s Premier League came to an end with Smriti Mandhana‘s Royal Challengers Bangalore lifting the trophy by defeating Meg Lanning‘s Delhi Capitals in the final on Sunday.
Unfortunately, the Capitals’ four-match unbeaten record against RCB came to an end on the biggest stage. The Royal Challengers enjoyed a thrilling campaign as they also defeated Harmanpreet Kaur’s Mumbai Indians in the playoffs by a margin of five runs.
Amidst all the team triumphs, there were a few individuals that stood out. Hence, without further ado, let’s take a look at the 2023 WPL team of the tournament:
Top Order
Meg Lanning (Delhi Capitals): Australian veteran Meg Lanning guided Delhi Capitals towards their second consecutive WPL final. However, the Capitals failed to make it through once again but Lanning displayed her batting prowess at every step in the competition. With 337 runs in nine matches, she was the second-highest run-getter in the 2024 WPL.
Lanning also scored 4 half-centuries, the most by any batter in the tournament. During the final match, the Aussie also added 23 runs to the Capital’s total before their dramatic collapse at 113.
Shafali Verma (Delhi Capitals): Shafali Verma exhibited her aggressive batting style throughout the tournament as she smashed a mammoth total of 20 maximums in only nine matches. After Verma, the second spot in the list of most sixes is shared by Smriti Manadana and Richa Ghosh, who scored 10 maximums each.
The opening batter was also the highest run-scoring Indian in the 2024 WPL as she garnered 309 runs in nine innings. She was also the top scorer of the Women’s Premier League final as she scored 44 runs off 27 deliveries against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Ellyse Perry (Royal Challengers Bangalore): Ellyse Perry was the star of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s batting line-up. Perry’s astounding 66-run knock in the WPL play-off against Harmanpreet Kaur’s Mumbai Indians was an instrumental reason behind RCB’s admission in the final with a five-run victory. She also scored 35 runs in the final of WPL 2024.
Perry was the highest scorer of the tournament with 347 runs in 10 matches. In addition to that, she stood unbeaten in four of ten matches. Perry also took over the likes of last year’s Orange Cap holder, Delhi Capitals’ skipper Meg Lanning.
Middle Order
Harmanpreet Kaur was Mumbai Indians’ top scorer in the 2024 WPL with 286 runs
Harmanpreet Kaur (Mumbai Indians): Mumbai Indians’ Captain Harmanpreet Kaur had a decent campaign. The Indian skipper was the highest run scorer for the 2023 WPL Champions as she accumulated a total of 286 runs in seven matches. Despite being an off-break right-arm bowler, Kaur didn’t pick the ball during the whole campaign.
However, with the bat, she tonked the highest score of the second edition of the WPL, 95*, which she scored against Beth Mooney’s Gujarat Giants. Nevertheless, Kaur also missed a couple of matches for the Indians due to fitness concerns. Nat Sciver-Brunt was given the responsibility of leading the 2023 Champions in her absence.
Richa Ghosh (Royal Challengers Bangalore): Richa Ghosh played an important role in the middle order of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s batting line-up, where she often acted as an anchor too.
With two half-centuries, she scored 257 runs in ten matches for the 2024 Champions. As a wicketkeeperkeeper, Ghosh outnumbered the likes of Yastika Bhatia and Taniya Bhatia by completing 13 dismissals. She had an average of 1.3 dismissals every innings.
Deepti Sharma (UP Warriorz): Deepti Sharma gave the best all-round performance in the 2024 WPL. The Indian star all-rounder garnered 295 runs in eight matches for UP Warriorz. Sharma scored two half-centuries in the competition, where her highest score was 88.
With the ball, Sharma took ten wickets, which also included a four-wicket haul that she completed against the likes of Delhi Capitals. She took only one wicket less than Warriorz’s top bowler, Sophie Ecclestone.
Marizanne Kapp (Delhi Capitals): The South African all-rounder failed to perform with the bat in the 2024 WPL, however, she still managed to impress the world of cricket with her astounding bowling skills. Kapp picked up 11 wickets in only seven matches and her best figures were witnessed against UP Warriorz, where she took three wickets, conceding only five runs.
Teaming up with Australia’s Jess Jonassen, who also took 11 wickets, Kapp helped the Capitals secure the first spot in the league table. The South African all-rounder was also the only bowler in the tournament to bowl two maiden overs.
Sophie Molineux (Royal Challengers Bangalore): Another RCB bowler who was behind Delhi Capitals’ unrealistic batting line-up collapse in the final was Sophie Molineux. The Australian bowler picked up the wickets of Shafali, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Alice Capsey in the important match. Playing 10 matches, Molineux took 12 wickets for the eventual champions.
Bowlers
Shreyanka Patil (Royal Challengers Bangalore): Shreyanka Patil became the purple cap winner of the 2024 WPL with 13 wickets in only eight matches. In addition to that, the Indian bowler was the only one in the tournament to complete two four-wicket hauls.
Nevertheless, her most successful spell came in the tournament final, where she picked up two wickets, conceding only 12 runs.
Asha Sobhana took two wickets in the final against Delhi Capitals
Asha Sobhana (Royal Challengers Bangalore): The bowlers of Royal Challengers Bangalore pushed Lanning’s Capitals to the corner in the WPL final. Asha Sobhana also took two wickets in the final of the tournament. Throughout the tournament, she played ten matches, where she took 12 wickets with her best figures of 5/22 which came against UPW.
Shikha Pandey (Delhi Capitals): Shikha Pandey’s consistency throughout the 2024 WPL was commendable. In nine matches, she took nine wickets with her best figures being 2/23. Interestingly, Pandey managed to bowl an economical spell in the final too as he only conceded 11 runs in four overs, taking the wicket of Sophie Devine.