The inaugural edition's winner Mumbai Indians will bank on their core group of players while two-time finalists Delhi Capitals will expect fireworks from Shafali Verma when they face-off in the second game of the Women's Premier League here on Saturday. The finalists of the first WPL in 2023, both Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals made it to the knockouts in the second edition last year but lost to the eventual champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the eliminator and the final respectively. Those defeats were certainly not reflective of how well MI and DC had fared until the knockouts stage, with Harmanpreet Kaur's side finishing second in the points table with five wins in eight matches and Meg Lanning's team topping it with six wins in as many outings. The winners of WPL 2023, Mumbai Indians tend to lean on their core group of players both overseas and Indian and a similar approach can be expected this year, with only a few changes taking place in terms of squad composition. India pacer Pooja Vastrakar, who was grappling with an unspecified injury, was ruled out of the competition and has been replaced by slow left-arm orthodox bowler Parunika Sisodia, who was one of the main performers in India's title-winning campaign in the U-19 Women's T20 World Cup recently. Mumbai Indians have let go of England's Issy Wong, who took the first-ever WPL hat-trick in 2023, after the player lost form and the franchise found the leader of their attack in South Africa's Shabnim Ismail. Among domestic talents, another member of the U-19 T20 World Cup winning squad G Kamalini would be one to watch out for, having finished as the third highest scorer in the competition with 143 runs in seven matches. Apart from a strong leader in Harmanpreet, MI have strong figures from other international sides such as Nat Sciver-Brunt (England), Hayley Matthews (West Indies), Amelia Kerr (New Zealand), as well as South Africans Nadine de Klerk, Shabnim Ismail and Chloe Tryon. While Yastika Bhatia is MI's No 1 wicketkeeper-batter, other Indian players in Saika Ishaque, Sajana Sajeevan, uncapped Akshita Maheshwari and Amanjot Kaur will be expected to play their roles to perfection. On their part, Delhi Capitals will be keen to do one better after finishing as runner-up for two times in a row ever since the competition began. One of the most consistent teams in the competition, the Lanning-led Delhi have strong talent base across departments but the key will be to deliver in crucial matches. All eyes will be on the explosive Indian batter Shafali who has responded to her exclusion from the Indian side with runs in domestic cricket. She forms a lethal opening pair with Lanning at the top, while the likes of Australia's Annabel Sutherland, England's Alice Capsey and India's Jemimah Rodrigues form the core of their middle order. All-rounder Sutherland will hope to draw inspiration from her recent success of having struck 163 in the only Test of the women's Ashes followed by winning the highest individual honour in Australian cricket. While Delhi boasts of three wicketkeeper-batters in India's Taniyaa Bhatia, Nandini Kashyap and Scotland's Sarah Bryce, their bowling looks settled with Marizanne Kapp as the leader of the attack, backed by Australia's Jess Jonassen, India's Radha Yadav and Shikha Pandey as well as Titas Sadhu.
'We have got lots of energy within the group and as I said before we are really excited about the opportunity that we have given ourselves to go out there and play our best game.'
An ecstatic Mumbai Indians skipper Harmanpreet Kaur credited her bowlers for robustly defending a modest target of 150 in the WPL 2025 final against Delhi Capitals.
In a top-order rejig at eBay Inc, Meg Whitman has resigned as its CEO, and would be replaced by John Donahoe while the world's largest Internet auction firm has brought in India-origin former finance head Rajiv Dutta to the board. In a late night announcement on Wednesday, eBay said that Whitman would step down as its president and CEO on March 31, currently head of its core auction business.
Indian women's cricket team skipper Smriti Mandhana created history on Wednesday by smashing the fastest century in One-Day Internationals by an Indian woman cricketer.
Smriti Mandhana, Ellyse Perry, Shafali Verma, Meg Lanning and Harmanpreet Kaur were some of the big names retained by their respective franchises for the next edition of the Women's Premier League.
West Indies' Chinelle Henry smashed a 23-ball 62, including eight sixes and two fours, to equal the record for the fastest fifty in the Women's Premier League.
Shafali Verma and Jess Jonassen smashed half-centuries as Delhi Capitals handed Royal Challengers Bengaluru a fourth consecutive defeat with a commanding nine-wicket win.
Shafali Verma (44) and Jess Jonassen's (61 not out) fireworks underlined Delhi Capitals' complete domination as they crushed Gujarat Giants by six wickets.
Delhi Capitals produced a splendid bowling effort before their batters, led by Niki Prasad, survived some anxious moments to register a narrow two-wicket win over Mumbai Indians in a last-ball thriller in the Women's Premier League
Smriti Mandhana smashed a blistering 47-ball 81 to power reigning champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a resounding eight-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals
The 97th Academy Awards are live in Hollywood, California, and the biggest stars are looking even more glamorous on the red carpet.
The winners of the tournament will receive $2.34 million, more than double the $1 million awarded to Australia for winning the previous edition of the tournament in 2023.
Australia have now made it to the semi-finals of the global T20 tournament in all its nine editions held so far since 2009 in England.
Hollywood's biggest night was high on glitz and glamour but lacked the edge and excitement of the movies it was celebrating, observes Sukanya Verma.
Ariarne Titmus got Australia's women off to a golden start by winning a race of record breakers on a rocking opening night of the Paris Olympic swimming meet at the La Defense Arena on Saturday.
Images from the WPL 2024 match between Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Giants at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Edulji identified spin bowling as one of India's key strengths, praising Deepti Sharma's consistent form since 2017 and her ability to hit in the final overs. She also mentioned the promising talent of Shreyanka Patil
Smriti said that the clash against Pakistan always brings out a lot of passionate response from the players. The arch-rival will lock horns in Dubai on October 6.
Bangladesh will take on Scotland in the tournament opener in an afternoon fixture followed by a clash between Asian teams Pakistan and Sri Lanka later in the day at Sharjah.
The players' auction ahead of the 2024 edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) will be held on December 9 in Mumbai, the BCCI announced on Friday.
Despite entering its second year, the Women's Premier League (WPL) has already contributed immensely to improve the standard of domestic Indian players, reckoned Delhi Capitals captain Meg Lanning in Bengaluru on Thursday.
IMAGES from the WPL match played between Delhi Capitals Women and UP Warriorz in Bengaluru on Monday.
Nedoroscik, affectionately known as "pommel horse guy" after his specialty apparatus, is having his moment on the internet with memes, jokes and tribute songs
Lanning has led DC from the front, scoring 308 runs from eight innings, while South African all-rounder Marizanne Kapp and Australian left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen are the highest wicket-takers for the side with 11 scalps each.
Lord's, the 'home of cricket', will host its first-ever Women's Test between India and England in 2026, the ECB announced on Thursday.
Images from the WPL 2024 match between Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday.
IMAGES from the WPL match between Delhi Capitals and UP Warriorz in New Delhi on Friday
Shabnim Ismail bowls fastest delivery in women's cricket, breaches 130kph
Australia's former women's captain Meg Lanning said that her early retirement from international cricket at 31 was forced by bouts of depression and weight-loss
Verma's team is currently top of the table with two wins from three matches.
IMAGES from the WPL opener between Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians played in Bengaluru on Friday
Jemimah expressed her joy at finally playing on their home ground, soaking in the enthusiastic atmosphere.
Need to maintain energy to secure maiden Test win over Australia, says Harmanpreet Kaur
Meg Lanning and Jemimah Rodrigues smashed commanding fifties as Delhi Capitals thrashed Mumbai Indians by 29 runs.
Mandhana joined the Southern Brave, meanwhile, the Birmingham Phoenix roped in Richa for the forthcoming Women's Hundred 2024.
Also released from the squad are Devika Vaidya, Simran Shaikh and Shivali Shinde.
The second edition of the Women's Premier League, beginning in Bengaluru on Friday with a high-profile match between defending champions Mumbai Indians and runners-up Delhi Capitals, will be optimistic about meeting its existential purpose of giving a wider platform to promising home-grown talents.
Images from the Olympics swimming action at the La Defense Arena, Paris, on Sunday.
All-rounder Tahlia McGrath has been named vice-captain, with the decisions on both players ratified at a Cricket Australia (CA) meeting on Friday.
