MIW vs DCW WPL 2023: Mumbai Indians became the champions of the first ever Women's Premier League as they defeated Delhi Capitals in a nail-biter by 7 wickets. MIW side chased down the tricky target of 132 runs as Nat Sciver and Harmanpreet Kaur helped the team get over the line in the final over of the game. Capitals produced a show after being bundled out for 131 and pushed Mumbai to its limit.
Chasing the target of 131, Mumbai Indians faced a setback, with both Yastika Bhatia and Hayley Matthews falling inside the powerplay. As the run rate shot up and stood a little shy of 8, Kaur and Nat Sciver staged a fightback. The duo steadied the ship before freeing their hands a bit around the mid-inning phase. Kaur was once again run out when the team was at 95 runs in 16 overs, hinting a comeback from the Capitals. But Nat Sciver and Amelia Kerr clinched the nail biter as the latter took the aggressor's role to wrap the contest in the final over with 3 balls to spare.
Delhi Capitals managed to score 131 runs in the first innings, thanks to the heroic effort of the last pair - Shikha Pandey and Radha Yadav. Capitals were in all sorts of trouble and were staring at a score well below a hundred when they lost wickets in a bunch. It all started with Issy Wong jolting the Capitals line-up with three wickets in her first two overs. Even though Shafali, Capsey and Rodrigues went back, the game was not gone as Lanning was still standing tall in the middle. After the fourth wicket, Lanning was caught in a mix-up with Jonassen and was run out in the 12 over when the score was at 74. Mumbai continued their show as Matthews produced dream figures with 4 overs, 2 maidens, 5 runs, and 3 wickets. It looked like Capitals were gone, but the rescue came right at the end from Shikha Pandey and Radha Yadav. The duo made some crucial runs and stitched a stand of 52 off just 24 balls. This took Lanning's side to 131/9.
WPL 2023 Awards:
Nat Sciver became the player of the match
Hayley Matthews became the player of the tournament. She also took the purple cap with 16 wickets.
Meg Lanning won the orange cap.
Harmanpreet won the catch of the season
Yastika Bhatia won the Emerging Player award.
