The action in the Women’s Premier League has finally reached its culmination as Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians are all set to lock horns in the final of the tournament on Sunday, March 26, at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. Delhi have had a dominant run in the tournament so far, as they finished at the helm in the points table having won six out of their eight matches.
Delhi are coming into the final having won their previous two fixtures against Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz, respectively. They hammered Mumbai in their previous fixture by nine wickets chasing down the target of 110 with 11 overs to spare.
However, out of their two losses Delhi conceded in the league stage, one of them came against Mumbai, as they were handed an eight-wicket defeat against the number two ranked team in the points table. With the two teams having beaten each other once in the tournament so far, the final promises to be another action-packed encounter. In order to defeat MI-W in their den and script history by winning the first-ever Women’s Premier League, Delhi will have to field their best XI in the big final.
Here’s Delhi Capitals’ predicted XI for the final against Mumbai Indians:
Openers: Meg Lanning (c), Shafali Verma
Shafali Verma and Meg Lanning. (Photo Source: JioCinema)
Meg Lanning has led from the front in the tournament so far by being the highest run-scorer with 310 runs with a staggering average of 51.66 and a strike rate of 141.55. Lanning has been involved in several explosive opening stands for her side with Shafali Verma and will look to replicate her heroics yet again in the final.
Meanwhile, her partner Shafali Verma is the second-highest run-scorer for Delhi with 241 runs to her name at an average of 34.42 and a strike rate of 182.57. She’s played a great role as the opener for her side so far and will look to give another rollicking start for one final time against the Mumbai Indians Women in the big final.
Middle Order: Jemimah Rodrigues, Alice Capsey, Taniya Bhatia (wk)
Alice Capsey. (Photo Source: Twitter/WPL)
With the limited opportunities Jemimah Rodrigues has had in the tournament so far, she has played brilliant cameos for her side. Rodrigues fell cheaply in Delhi’s last fixture against UP and will look to make amends in the big final.
Alice Capsey has played several useful knocks in the middle order so far in the tournament. She scored 34 off 31 against UP Warriorz to help her team chase down 139 with 13 balls to spare. She has scored 159 runs in the tournament so far with magnificent strike rate of 159 and will look to replicate her heroic knock against Mumbai in their previous fixture.
Taniya Bhatia has only got to bat twice in the tournament so far and could only contribute five runs. However, she has done a great job donning the wicketkeeping gloves. Bhatia has displayed remarkable glovework by inflicting 10 dismissals in the tournament so far, the second-highest in the tournament.
All-rounders: Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen
Marizanne Kapp. (Photo Source: Twitter/WPL)
Marizanne Kapp has done full justice to the role of an all-rounder in the tournament, playing crucial knocks for her side in the middle order. She’s the joint third-highest run scorer for her side with 159 runs to her name at an average of 53 and a strike rate of 127.
The South African all-rounder is also the second-highest wicket-taker for Delhi with nine scalps to her name. Furthermore, Kapp has the best bowling figures of the tournament to her name having picked up 5/15 against the Gujarat Giants.
Jess Jonassen picked up 1/24 in four overs in the last fixture against UP but got out for a duck. She has played two brilliant knocks in the tournament so far and has picked up eight wickets with the ball. Jonassen will once again look to put up another all-round show on the grand stage of the final.
Bowlers: Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Tara Norris
Shikha Pandey 2. (Photo Source: Delhi Capitals/ Twitter)
Arundhati Reddy has picked up two wickets in the tournament so far and scored 25 off 17 in the only opportunity she got to bat against the Gujarat Giants. The right-arm medium-fast bowler will look to give her all in the final and make a vital contribution to her team.
Radha Yadav has managed to pick up three wickets in the tournament so far in eight matches. She will look to give her bring her A game to the fore in the final and pick up some crucial wickets for her side.
Shikha Pandey is the leading wicket-taker for Delhi in the tournament with ten scalps to her name at an average of 18.80 and an economy of 6.71. The left-arm spinner will look to outfox the Mumbai batters in the big final and take her side to the inaugural WPL title.
Tara Norris scripted history after becoming the first player to pick up a five-wicket haul in WPL, along with being the first United States to achieve the feat. Albeit, Norris could only manage to pick two wickets in the next three matches. Considering the big game at hand, Delhi will be tempted to bring Norris into the side in place of Poonam Yadav who’s failed to pick a wicket in two innings.
Delhi Capitals Woman Predicted XI: Meg Lanning (c), Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Jess Jonassen, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Shikha Pandey, Tara Norris
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