Delhi Capitals is the first finalist of the ongoing Women’s Premier League (WPL) after a five-wicket win over UP Warriorz in the final league stage match at the Brabourne Stadium, with the north-Indian side set to take on Mumbai Indians on March 24 in the eliminator to determine the second finalist.
DC finished at the top spot with six wins, two losses, and 12 points in total. MI has similar statistics, but was pushed to the second due to an inferior net run rate. UP Warriorz finished at the third spot with four wins and four losses and a total of eight points. Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Giants are out of the tournament and have finished with two wins, six losses and four points each. Gujarat Giants is at the bottom of the table.
In the first match of the doubleheader on Tuesday, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) finished at 125/9 in 20 overs. Richa Ghosh and Ellyse Perry (29 each) finished as the top scorers for their sides and opener Smriti Mandhana (24) was the only one besides Ghosh and Perry to cross the 20-run mark. Amelia Kerr (3/22) was the pick of the bowlers for MI.
MI chased down the total in 16.3 overs. Though RCB bowlers tried to pose a challenge, knocks from Amelia (31*), Yastika (30) and Hayley Matthews (24) helped MI cruise to victory. Kanika Ahuja (2/5) was the pick of the bowlers for RCB.
MI Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said at the post-match presentation, “Winning is always important to get the momentum going. When you lose, it can be negative feelings. But everyone was talking how to win this. In the last two games, we were not able to do what we were trying to do. But we discussed today as to how to go about it.
