Both sides will be heading for this astonishing final after winning their respective last match. It promises to be a blockbuster contest as Delhi and Mumbai are in form, and there’s no outright favourite for this encounter.
Kaur-led MUM-W stormed into the final of the competition after defeating UP-W by 72 runs in the Eliminator round on Friday. Lanning-led DEL-W has had a season to remember, regardless of how the final goes for them. They were the first team to reach the final of this league and have grown better with each game.
MUM-W and DEL-W both have faced each other twice in the league stage, earning one victory each. Mumbai is coming off a solid win in their Eliminator game against Uttar Pradesh and has had a great run so far.
MUM-W finished its league in the 2nd place with 6 wins and 2 losses in 8 league matches. Whereas DEL-W finished the league on the top with 6 wins and 2 losses in 8 league matches barely beating MUM-W in net run rate, MUM-W looked like the team to beat this season and have most bases covered.
Skipper Meg Lanning has been their best batter throughout the season. 31-year-old star batter is the leading run-getter of the season with 310 runs in 8 matches at a strike rate of 141. We can expect another solid performance from the opener in the all-important final. India’s opening destructive batter Shafali Verma has scored 241 runs at a strike rate of nearly 183, she has given the team blazing starts and a blistering cameo in the final will help put Delhi ahead.
Another player we think will do well in the final is Proteas’ right-handed batter, Marizanne Kapp. The 33-year-old veteran batter has been solid in the middle order and collected 159 runs in 6 innings this season at a strike rate of 127.20. She has delivered with the ball as well, taking 9 wickets at an economy of just 5.75.
DEL-W’s best bowler this season, though, has been fast bowler Shikha Pandey with 10 wickets at an economy of 6.71. Her spell with the new ball can be crucial to the outcome of the game. Left-arm Aussie spinner Jess Jonassen has taken 8 wickets at an economy of 7.77 and she will be a handful on this surface.
In Harmanpreet Kaur, the side has an in-form skipper who has scored 246 runs in 9 matches at a strike rate of nearly 144. She just scored 14 off 15 in the last match, we expect a big performance from Kaur during the final.
The other batters who can make an impact are opener Windies skipper Hayley Matthews who has scored 258 runs in 9 matches at a strike rate of 127.41 and middle-order batter Nat Sciver-Brunt also scored 272 runs in 9 matches at a strike rate of 146. MUM-W bats deep, and even the likes of Pooja Vastrakar and Issy Wong have played a handful of cameos down the order.
Kiwi star all-rounder Melie Kerr, who scored a solid 29 off 19 balls the other night against UP-W while setting the target of 183, has been among the wickets. In the last five matches, the leg-spinner has scalped 9 wickets, including a 3-for against the BLR-W game.
Matthews has also contributed with the ball, with her off-spin accounting for 13 wickets at an economy of 6.51 and falling shy of 3 wickets to be on the top. English gun bowler Issy Wong has been in sensational form with the ball.
The right-arm quick registered the tournament’s first-ever hat-trick in the Eliminator against Uttar Pradesh, taking her tally of wickets in the season to 12 at a wonderful economy of 5.89. Wong will pose a serious challenge to the Delhi batters during the middle overs with her movement off the pitch.
Match Details
Match: DEL-W vs MUM-W, FINAL, Women’s T20 League
Date: Sunday, 26th March
Time: 07:30 PM
Venue: Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai
Pitch & Weather Report
This pitch offers something both to the bowlers and batters. It is known to be batting-friendly but has assisted with both seamers and spinners. Seamers will get movement off the pitch when the ball is new. But as the dew starts to set in at night, the ball will come on nicely to the bat and runs will flow easily.
Batting second has paid better dividends on this pitch. Out of the 10 games played at the venue in the Women’s IND T20 League, 6 have been won by the team chasing. The team winning the toss in the final is expected to field first.
The average 1st innings score at this venue is 169. The highest total posted here this season is 223-2 DEL-W. The team batting first in the final should look to set a target of at least 180 runs as batting will become easier in the second half.
The maximum temperature will remain at 29°C, with a low of 24°C with 53% humidity, and a wind speed of 21 Km/hr for the FINAL Match, the Women’s IND T20 on Mar 26 b/w DEL-W vs MUM-W. The weather in Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai during the match day will be hot and no rain is predicted in this evening encounter.
DEL-W vs MUM-W Squads
DEL-W: Jemimah Rodrigues, Shefali Verma, Marizanne Kapp, Meg Lanning, Alice Capsey, Shikha Pandey, Jess Jonassen, Laura Harris, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Minnu Mani, Poonam Yadav, Sneha Deepthi, Taniyaa Bhatia, Titas Sadhu, Jasia Akhter, Aparna Mondal and Tara Norris
MUM-W: Hayley Matthews, Yastika Bhatia(w), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Melie Kerr, Issy Wong, Amanjot Kaur, Humaira Kazi, Dhara Gujjar, Jintimani Kalita, Saika Ishaque, Chloe Tryon, Heather Graham, Pooja Vastrakar, Sonam Yadav, Neelam Bisht, Priyanka Bala
DEL-W vs MUM-W: Probable XIs
DEL-W: Meg Lanning (c), Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Jess Jonassen, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav
MUM-W: Hayley Matthews, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Melie Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar, Issy Wong, Amanjot Kaur, Humaira Kazi, Jintimani Kalita, Saika Ishaque
Match Prediction
DEL-W and MUM-W both have an equally matched batting unit. Delhi has the likes of Lanning, Verma, Nat Sciver-Brunt, and MUM-W’s Harmanpreet Kaur is likely to make some sort of impact with the bat in this final match. However, what might set the two teams apart in the final will be their bowling.
While DEL-W has a solid bowling unit, MUM-W’s bowling has much more variety and is looking in amazing shape. The likes of Wong, Matthews, and Saika Ishaque might prove to be the biggest hurdles for the Delhi Women’s in the final. We say Mumbai to win this match as per our prediction and lift the trophy.