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
Shafali Verma managed just 108 runs in six matches this year with 33 being the highest.
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 India pacer Pooja Vastrakar, who was grappling with an unspecified injury, was ruled out of the competition and has been replaced by slow left-arm orthodox bowler Parunika Sisodia, who was one of the main performers in India's title-winning campaign in the U-19 Women's T20 World Cup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.
Harmanpreet, Mandhana, Jemimah hold key to India's T20 World Cup campaign
India will have to regroup quickly and iron out the imbalances in team combination when they face arch-rivals Pakistan in a crucial second group A match of the Women's T20 World Cup in Dubai on Sunday
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
Harmanpreet Kaur was on Thursday retained as India captain for the three Women's ODIs against New Zealand while the selectors also picked four uncapped players for the series starting October 24.
India opener Shafali admitted that Sri Lanka are no longer only dependent on their skipper Chamarai Athapaththu.
The 27-year-old Arundhati Reddy was the star of the day as she returned excellent figures of 3/19 to help India restrict Pakistan to 105 for eight.
ndia will not get a better opponent than New Zealand, which is not a fancied side like its Trans-Tasman neighbour. But the two-time runners-up are as tough as nails.
Opener Smriti Mandhana's elegant century went in vain as India lost to Australia by 83 runs in the third Women's ODI to suffer a 0-3 series whitewash
Smriti Mandhana showered praise on skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and said that the 35-year-old is fierce and always gives her best.
India along with New Zealand and Pakistan are in contention for the last remaining semi-final spot from Group A.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur made a 48-ball 42 before Richa Ghosh sealed the chase with a six off Tumi Sekhukhune in the 41st over. India won with 56 balls to spare.
India registered a hard-fought six-wicket win over arch rivals Pakistan, keeping their semi-final hopes alive in the Women's T20 World Cup.
The Women's Asia Cup is set for a blockbuster start when defending champions India take on arch-foes Pakistan in Dambulla on Friday.
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 Women's T20 World Cup match between India and Australia in Sharjah on Sunday
IMAGES from the WPL opener between Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians played in Bengaluru on Friday
Dashing opener Shafali Verma smashed 81 off 48 to power India to 178 for 3.
Pacer Pooja Vastrakar ran riot with a career-best bowling show of 4 for 13 before Smriti Mandhana shone with the bat, scoring an unbeaten half century, as India thrashed South Africa by 10 wickets in the third and final women's T20 International to level the series 1-1, in Chennai, on Tuesday.
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.
Mandhana 136 (120b, 18x4, 2x6) and Harmanpreet 103 not out (88b, 9x4, 3x6) ran roughshod over the Proteas bowlers after being asked to bat first.
Rahul Dravid spent some quality time at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and gave a pep talk to women cricketers ahead of their tour of Bangladesh.
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.
The Capitals made a challenging 194 for five as Shafali Varma mustered a 31-ball 50 after they were asked to bat first.
IMAGES from the WPL match between Delhi Capitals and UP Warriorz in New Delhi on Friday
Delhi Capitals will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in their Women's Premier League (WPL) opener in Mumbai on Sunday.
Also released from the squad are Devika Vaidya, Simran Shaikh and Shivali Shinde.
IMAGES from the WPL final between Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday
The likes of Monica Patel, C Prathyusha have been dropped from the squad altogether.
The women's team will take on England in a one-off Test, three ODIs, and three T20Is
IMAGES from the Women's Premier League match played in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Team-wise list of players during WPL auction
Poonam Yadav believes the WPL will not just provide a great opportunity to senior players to come back into national reckoning
Gujarat Giants handed Delhi Capitals an 11-run defeat to pick up only their second win of the inaugural season of the Women's Premier League.
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 star players Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma were on Monday named captains of the three teams for the Women's T20 Challenge to be played in Pune from May 23.
Veteran pacer Shikha Pandey axed, rookie keeper Shwetha gets maiden call-up.
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