The final of WPL 2026

In the first phase of WPL 2026, Jemimah looked like she was falling apart. Timing was off, confidence shaken.

Then someone said something. And something shifted.

Suddenly there was power—real power—backed by proper cricketing shots. She stayed close to her core, played straight, and more importantly, decided she would not give up. My guess? Meg Lanning. Because Meg doesn’t do drama—she plays her game, and she makes others believe in theirs.

Whatever DC did before the final, it worked.

Now RCB have 203 to chase.

To win this, they’ll have to play the best game they’ve played all season.

Yes, finals carry pressure. And yes, under pressure, teams can fold—sometimes cheaply.

But this RCB is different.

Remember their first match? They fought till the last over and won. Since then, they haven’t just played matches—they’ve played to win. Every game. No shortcuts.

The only question now:

Has the gameless week after finishing top of the table slowed their resolve?

Or has it sharpened their hunger?

The chase will tell.

The final of TATA WPL 2023

 

Finally, the day was at hand, the final between two consistent teams from among the 5 that competed in the first ever WPL of India. Unlike the expectation, Meg Lanning lead Delhi Capitals fell cheaply after they won the toss and elected to bat at the Brabourne stadium, Mumbai.

At the end of the 16^th over they were at a miserable 79/9 when the pacer Shikha Pandey and the spinner Radha Yadav came together with lion hearts and scored 52 Runs from 24 balls giving some respectability to the score in the final of the second best team of the tournament.

Mumbai Indians stuck to their strength with tremendous support from its fans who were cheering from the full stadium of their home ground and cruised forward with their Captain Harmanpreet Kaur playing a Captains innings after they had lost both their openers early. Natalie Sciver-Brunt remained not out at 60 (55b) along with Amelia Kerr who knocked in a very useful 14 Runs (8b) when the game went to the last over with DC fighting ball by ball to defend their little.  

In the end we were happy that the game lasted that long but the audience left the stadium in flocks soon after the game the victory lap and presentation ceremony were witnessed more by the TV audience than the real ones.

The Lion Heart Radha Yadav took the medal for the maximum and Natalie Sciver-Brunt once again became the Player of the Match for her winning contribution to her team.

Hayley Matthews from West Indies with her 271 Runs and 16 wickets (also the purple hat holder for the highest number of wickets) became the Most Valuable Player and the Player of the Tournament.

Picture Source: wplt20.com

 

Mumbai Indians eliminated UP Warriorz in the eliminator round of the TATA WPL 2023 for 72 runs.

 

MI scored 182/4 in their 20 overs and UPW were bowled out for a mere 110 in 17.4 overs.

UPW had won the toss and elected to bat first at the D Y Patil stadium where winning the toss and electing to bowl first was like winning the match so far. That belief was upturned by the MI by scoring 182 which was a good total on the pitch. Yet, the pitch belief would have prevailed if their highest scorer Nat Sciver-Brunt was not dropped by none other than the purple cap holder and savior of UPW on many occasions, Sophie Ecclestone, when she was at 6 and Nat went on to score 72 from 38 balls setting the winning tempo of the match. The last over brought 18 runs, the new batsman and the local Vastrakar did well with a six and four giving good support to storming Nat adding 15-20 runs more to the total than they could have hoped for.

When the turn came UPW to bat their main stay the international players went down quickly. Alyssa Healy was caught for 11, the awesome all rounder Tahlia Mcgrath was run out, Grace Harris, the never say die fighter with an easy smile, went down for 14 from 12 balls.

The local Kiran Navgire stood out scoring 43 from 28 balls giving a faint hope till she was caught at the deep cover by Sciver. It was her chance to stay on and score something big for the team and for herself in spite of getting a life early on. Similarly Simran Sheikh lost her opportunity to contribute with the bat when she was bowled by Isabelle Wong in the next ball and unfortunate Sophie Ecclestone thick edged Wong’s next delivery into her wicket giving Wong a hat-trick and making history, the first hat-trick of the WPL.

Soon the fight went out for UPW in 17.4 overs, MI Indians winning  conclusively with all-around performance with the bat and the ball; rightfully,  Nat-Sciver Brunt was chosen as the Player of the Match and Kiran Navgire taking the medal for  maximum with her  three sixes, one of them being  huge going well into the stands.

The final is on 26^th Sunday where Captain Lanning’s Delhi Capital’s will take on the resurgent Mumbai Indians in Mumbai infront of their home supporters.

 

The King Slayers

Fight backs are the spirit that brings life back into the long franchise tournaments. On 18th March Saturday both the matches stood out for its spirit and valor. Earlier in the afternoon UPWarriorz became the King Slayers by defeating the undefeated Mumbai Indians. Later in the day, Sophie Devine of Royal Challengers did the impossible by scoring 99 runs in 36 ball helping her team chase a good score of 188 put by the resilient Gujarat Giants at the unpredictable D Y Patil pitch, walking straight into our hearts and millions of our home.

The Sophie Ecclestone who scored the winning six for UPZ hugging Deepti Sharma made the picture of the day; the bond between the national and international players makes a  franchisee team, The Team, and determines the winner; almost all the teams have achieved it now, some a lot quicker others taking their time. The professionalism and competitiveness of the international players are tremendous learning experience for our local players and for us the millions who are eagerly watching the matches on TV, thanks to WPL and BCCI for the platform and opportunity. 

Turn Around

Finally RCB won a match after their five straight defeat. Their star clubber Virat Kohli gave them an inspiring pep talk. "Not the result but how much have you given to the match, whether you have won five or lost five in the previous games doesn't matter. Have you given your 110% to today's match? If yes it will help you walk out with your head held high even in loss. "

International professional players may not need such talks they already know how to keep them charged. But the young fresh players took Virat's words to heart and came out fighting. Batting second when the senior players were back in the dug out freshers like Kanika Ahuja, Patil and already capped Ghosh won the match for RCB. 

Virat Kohli Speech. 

It was heart warming to see the senior players encouraging them, the sight of Schütt and Perry hugging the heroes of the D Y Patil when they came home running after the victory is a fond memory. 

Congratulations RCB, keep the momentum rolling. 

Gujarat Giants V/S Delhi Capitals 11 March 2023

What was curious about Delhi Capitals playing eleven was that they had left out Sophia Dunkley who helped them bundle out the Royal Challengers Bangalore in their last match.

Marizanne Kapp and her deathly spell

Gujarat Giants won the toss and elected to bat. The seamer Marizanne Kapp from South Africa opened the bowling for GG. She was not at her best in the previous matches and looked determined with her

Source: www.wplt20.com

“go girl” look with her dark hair bundled up into a neat work-friendly knot at the back of her head. Nobody at the D Y Patil Stadium, Mumbai knew yet what a deathly spell she was about to unleash. With her second ball of the first over on the fresh pitch she yorked the GG opener S Meghana and found that golden spot for the wicket to wicket seam bowling with that deceptive in-swing. GG was one down for nil, very early in the match.

In her second over she clean bowled her fellow country women Laura Wolvaardt and in the very next ball the awesome Ashleigh Gardner was trapped Leg before. GG was 3 down for 9 in the 3rd over.

Meg Lanning kept her seamer on and in her third over Harleen Deol couldn’t read the swing and got stuck on a Leg Before Wicket. In her final over still hitting that golden spot with as much pace as in her first over she clean bowled a startled Sushama Verma. GG was almost done on 6/33.

Georgia Wareham and Kim Garth fight back

Georgia and Kim took heart and stuck on rising hope until Georgia was clean bowled by S Radha with a stunner for 22 (25b 2x4). She walked back to the pavilion knowing had she stayed on and took a run a ball or even less GG would have finished better. Kim Garth remained not out on 32 (37b, 3x4) and GG finished with 105/9 in 20 overs. 

Shafali Verma and Captain Meg Lanning

The great expectations are built around the WPL in terms of the opportunities it will bring for the women in India and for the international players. The most endearing aspect of the WPL is the opportunity for our local amateur players to learn from senior international players. How well they vibe and gel is largely dependent on the team management and the atmosphere they create in the camp, we came to see the best of that combination in Shafali and her captain who came out very aggressively to achieve their target in a very short time. From the moment Meg Lanning realized Shafali was in great nick and timing the ball very well, she stepped down to a supporting role and let Shafali roll it all the way home. DC finished the match in 7.1 overs with ten wickets in hand scoring 107 runs Meg Lanning 15 not out(15b 3x4) Shafali Verma 76 not out (28b 10x4 5x6). After the thumping victory in the post-match interview it was heartwarming to hear Shafali thanking Meg for all the advice she was giving her while they were batting.  Marizanne Kapp, naturally was the player of the Match.

Looking forward to hear about and see more of such winning local + international in the coming days, Congratulations Delhi Capitals for such a splendid game.

Hayley Matthews of Mumbai Indians

 Her father, Mike Matthews, was the fourth down batsman for the Prestigious Pickwick Club in Barbados who could bowl some neat off spins. She and her brother, Wayne, grew up watching her father play at the Kensington oval there and as children they ran all around the ground during the breaks. It was quite natural that she took to Cricket from a very young age. (At 8 she was playing for the Boy’s team of Peoples Cathedral Primary School near her home and captaining it at the age of 11. She was the Captain of prestigious secondary School of Harrison College Under 13 Boy’s team and helping them win a tournament. )

Hayley was a Mumbai Indians fan from the very start of our premier leagues. Her father was a huge fan of Sachin Tendulkar ( like we are of Clive, Richards, Malcolm Marshall, Mike Holding, Joel Garner ..!) and Mumbai Indians. This year in 2023 when the Women’s IPL auction went underway, she was not considered by any team in the first round even though she was the man of the match of 2016 Women’s T20 World Cup Final which West Indies Won.

R. Ashwin our Indian Cricketer was the first one to express his surprise how she with the potential to become the Most Valued Player was overlooked but by then she was already in Mumbai Indians who picked her up for the base price and winning matches.  Hayley Matthews is the girl our girls will be looking up to; in her is the inspiration to be ready and use the opportunity that comes in everyones way sooner or later.

Congratulations and Best Wishes Hayley Matthews.

Ellyse Perry

Celebrating Holy 

Ellyse Perry is a special Player who excelled in two sports.

She is one of those rare athletes who have represented her country (Australia) in two sports world Cup; football and Cricket.

At present Ellyse is considered as one of the all-time greats of Women’s Cricket.  She was a good footballer too. In 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup in a match against Sweden she scored for Australia right from the edge of the box curving it into top corner of the net.

In RCB Jersey

Now with 4921 Runs and 283 Wickets with a Test Average of 75.2 Runs her football life looks so far away. It was her athleticism and tight fielding that cost India the match in the semi-finals of the recently concluded ICC T20 Women’s World Cup in South Africa.

She was chosen by Royal Challengers Bangalore and is one of the biggest attractions of the Indian T20 Women’s Premier league which she believes is phenomenal and  feels its scale is unrivaled by any other Women’s competition in the world. She believes the Indian Premier League will create an amazing depth of talent for the Indian Women’s Cricket.

Ellyse Perry is, no doubt, going to inspire thousands of Indian girls in the coming years. Wish you the best Ellyse and it is you we are thinking about on International Women’s Day, the youngest ever Cricketer, both male and female, to have represented Australia.

Pictures from Instagram : Royal Challengers Bangalore