Nadine de Klerk's four-fer, followed by a match-winning half-century, powered RCB to open their account with a win in the opening match of WPL 2026 against MI on Friday in Navi Mumbai.
Cricket Australia informed in a release that middle-order batter Rodrigues, a 'fan favourite' in Brisbane, was retained by the Brisbane Heat
India suffered a disappointing start to their Women's T20 World Cup campaign in Dubai, facing both on-field struggles and a contentious decision against New Zealand.
India's Deepti Sharma inched closer to the top spot after rising to second place in the latest ICC Women's T20I bowling rankings, while opener Smriti Mandhana slipped to the second position among batters.
Australia began their Women's T20 World Cup title defence on a resounding note
Deepti Sharma breaks into the top-five of the latest ICC ODI Women's all-rounders rankings.
The franchise chose to retain only former Under-19 World Cup winner Shweta Sehrawat as part of a fresh approach for the upcoming season.
Having already secured a place in the semi-finals, England will be hoping to acquire some quality workout time for their batters in their last league match against a beleaguered and rain-tormented New Zealand in the women's World match Cup, in Visakhapatnam, on Sunday.
Rejuvenated by their thrilling super-over win over RCB, UP Warriorz will look to continue their momentum when they take on an upbeat Mumbai Indians in the Women's Premier League match in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Having set the pace with emphatic back-to-back victories, defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be eyeing a hat-trick of sorts against star-studded Mumbai Indians in the WPL match at home on Friday.
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
Powered by the all-round brilliance of Nat Sciver-Brunt and Hayley Matthews, Mumbai Indians head into the Women's Premier League final as favorites to claim their second title, while Delhi Capitals hope to break their title jinx in what promises to be a thrilling showdown in Mumbai on Saturday.
Harman's record as captain untouchable, she has another 4-5 years to offer: Jhulan Goswami
Mumbai Indians captain Harmanpreet Kaur was fined 10 per cent of her match fee for showing dissent at umpire's decision during her team's match against UP Warriorz in the Women's Premier League.
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.
India failed to reach the semifinals of the T20 showpiece in the UAE and entered the third and final ODI against the Kiwis with the series tied at 1-1 in Ahmedabad.
India must quickly move on from Friday's shock defeat against New Zealand to revive their fortunes in the women's T20 World Cup, batter Jemimah Rodrigues said.
Having retained the majority of their squad, MI will be the team to beat given their formidable batting, but Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals will be out to spoil their party.
Seasoned all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner's commanding century and disciplined effort from the bowlers helped defending champions Australia thrash trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand by 89 runs in their ICC Women's World Cup opening match in Indore on Wednesday.
Harmanpreet Kaur's side would become the fourth team to book the semifinal berth if they get the better of the White Ferns here on the familiar mat of the DY Patil Stadium.
UP Warriorz's 12 runs win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru knocked the defending champions out from the race to the play-offs on Saturday, confirming qualification for Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Giants in the process.
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.
With the WPL finding its pride of place in the calendar, India can be at the forefront of where women's cricket can potentially reach, legendary New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine said.
Suzie Bates blasted 79 not out on her home ground of Dunedin as New Zealand earned a nine-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2022.
New Zealand sprung a fantastic turnaround to defeat India by three wickets
Meg Lanning and Jemimah Rodrigues smashed commanding fifties as Delhi Capitals thrashed Mumbai Indians by 29 runs.
The seasoned duo of Meg Lanning and Sophie Devine were also among the marquee picks. Giants bought Devine for Rs 2 crore, while UP Warriorz landed Lanning for Rs 1.90 crore.
Photos from the final of the ICC Women's T20 Cricket World Cup
After her early dismissal, Georgia Plimmer brought some spark to the White Ferns' innings, taking on the English attack with a flurry of boundaries.
Harmanpreet has moved up three places and now has 613 rating points while Shafali rose two rungs
Women's T20 World Cup set for first-time champion as New Zealand-South Africa clash in final
She hit 31 boundaries and two sixes in her 145-ball knock, then after a 10-minute nap on the physio's table between innings, took 5-17 as Ireland were bowled out for 135 to give the White Ferns a 305-run win and 3-0 series victory.
IMAGES from the WPL match between Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz in New Delhi on Thursday
In a thrilling finish, New Zealand secured a decisive victory over Pakistan in Dubai on Monday, ensuring their place in the T20 World Cup semifinals for the first time since 2016.
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.
Amanjot Kaur's superb all-round showing steered Mumbai Indians to a thrilling four-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
India felt the absence of experienced pacer Jhulan Goswami as they suffered a three-wicket defeat in the second women's ODI against New Zealand in Queenstown on Tuesday.
Also released from the squad are Devika Vaidya, Simran Shaikh and Shivali Shinde.
Marizanne Kapp was again South Africa's star player as they edged a thrilling tussle with New Zealand, getting home with two wickets and three balls to spare.
Images from the WPL match between Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Giants played at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Saturday
