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 India pacer Pooja Vastrakar, who was grappling with an unspecified injury, was ruled out of the competition and has been replaced by slow left-arm orthodox bowler Parunika Sisodia, who was one of the main performers in India's title-winning campaign in the U-19 Women's T20 World Cup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.
Tata Iron and Steel Company Ltd has completed the acquisition of Singapore-based steel company NatSteel Ltd by subscribing to 100 per cent equity of its subsidiary NatSteel Asia Pte Ltd (NatSteel Asia).
struck 105 in the final match of the series against Australia in Perth and 54 in the first game of the ongoing T20I rubber against the West Indies in Mumbai to headline the latest rankings
Amid growing concerns over the detection of human metapneumovirus cases in India, health experts have emphasised the virus is not new, and advised people to stay calm and take basic precautions.
A video of a teacher coming to work in an inebriated state at a government school in Madhya Pradesh's Shahdol district surfaced on social media, prompting the authorities to order a probe, an official said on Sunday.
Captain Hayley Matthews and her opening partner Qiana Joseph struck fine half centuries as the West Indies registered a thumping six-wicket win over England to qualify for the semifinals of the Women's T20 World Cup in Dubai on Tuesday.
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.
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.
Smriti Mandhana dropped a rung to fourth spot, while skipper Harmanpreet Kaur jumped two places to ninth position in the ICC Women's ODI batting rankings.
IMAGES from the WPL match between Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz in New Delhi on Thursday
With a line-up of thrilling matches and intense competition, the ICC Women's T20 World Cup is sure to captivate fans around the globe. Stay tuned for updates and highlights as the tournament unfolds. Ahead of the tournament, here's everything you need to know about the upcoming ICC Women's T20 World Cup.
IMAGES from the WPL opener between Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians played in Bengaluru on Friday
IMAGES from the WPL Eliminator played in New Delhi on Friday.
Ellyse Perry claimed a record six-wicket haul before smashing an unbeaten 40 to steer Royal Challengers Bangalore to an emphatic seven-wicket win.
Mumbai Indians came up with a dominant performance with both bat and ball to cruise to an emphatic seven-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore.
IMAGES from the Women's Premier League game in Bengaluru between Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz on Wednesday
Spinner Deepti Sharma bagged her maiden five-wicket haul in Tests to put India in control on Day 2 of the one-off Test.
India rarely took the foot off the pedal on a batting-friendly surface, garnering nearly five runs per over.
So far, carcasses of 32 flamingos have been recovered from Ghatkopar area, the police said.
P Varun Raj, the 24-year-old Indian student who was stabbed at a fitness centre in the United States state of Indiana over the weekend, continues to be in a critical condition and is on a life support, sources familiar with his ongoing treatment said.
Somerset wicket-keeper James Rew, 19, won the Young Cricketer of the Year having scored more than 1,000 runs in Division One of the County Championship.
Mumbai Indians witnessed some standout performances in the WPL final against Delhi Capitals as they were crowned inaugural champions.
Mumbai Indians aim to cap their superb WPL season by defeating Meg Lanning's Delhi Capitals in the final of the inaugural edition of the T20 league on Sunday.
India's batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, spinner Ravi Bishnoi and left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh also feature in ICC T20I Team of the Year for 2023.
England beat India by four wickets in second T20I, win series
India failed miserably in all departments of the game as they suffered a comprehensive 38-run defeat against England in the first T20I of the three match series in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Seven of the 10 finalists were Indian-Americans.
India women registered the biggest victory in terms of runs in the history of women's Test cricket.
Images from the WPL 2024 match between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Giants in New Delhi on Saturday.
The United Kingdom government on Tuesday said that though the air traffic control 'technical issue' that led to the severe disruption of hundreds of flights and left thousands of passengers stranded has been resolved, routes will continue to be affected for some days as airlines scramble to recover from the domino effect on their schedules.
IMAGES from the WPL match played between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Giants in Bengaluru on Sunday.
IMAGES from the WPL match played between RCB and Mumbai Indians in Mumbai on Monday.
Meg Lanning and Jemimah Rodrigues smashed commanding fifties as Delhi Capitals thrashed Mumbai Indians by 29 runs.
More and more women are making their presence felt in jobs related to sciences, technology, and engineering across organisations.
National Geographic's Travel Photo Contest is open for entries and has already attracted incredible snaps from across the globe. Week 2 of the contest include images of a newborn lion being carried to safety in the jaws of its mother, a daredevil slackliner in the USA, and a penguin being chased by a fur seal. The international competition runs from 18 March to 3 May, with budding photographers able to enter their work in one of three categories: nature, cities and people.
England captain Heather Knight on Saturday conceded India showed them how to play in testing conditions after Harmanpreet Kaur's side notched up the biggest-ever win by runs in women's Test cricket.
Indian opener Smriti Mandhana on Sunday admitted that playing back-to-back matches was tough.
The pair was part of the victorious 2017 ODI World Cup winning England team, that beat India in the title clash and also played at the 2022 ODI World Cup, in which England finished runners-up.
Sri Lanka's Chamari Athapaththu won her maiden women's ODI Cricketer of the Year award, becoming the first female cricketer from the country to win an ICC award.
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