In the aftermath of Delhi Capitals’ commanding 7-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians in Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026 Match 13 at Kotambi Stadium, Vadodara, Mumbai Indians head coach Lisa Keightley faced the media with candid reflections on her team’s persistent struggles.
Delhi Capitals skipper Jemimah Rodrigues starred with an unbeaten 51 (37 balls), earning Player of the Match honours in a chase completed with an over to spare, while Nat Sciver-Brunt’s gritty 65* (45) helped Mumbai Indians post 154/5. Keightley dissected the power play batting failures, injury setbacks, and bowling lapses that left Mumbai 25-30 runs short of a competitive total.
Keightley pinpointed the powerplay as Mumbai’s Achilles’ heel, where early wickets and tight bowling from Delhi’s Sree Charani (4-0-33-3) and Marizanne Kapp (4-0-8-1) derailed the innings. Sajeevan Sajana and Hayley Matthews managed just 21 before falling, forcing Nat Sciver-Brunt and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (41 off 33) into a 78-run recovery that steadied but couldn’t accelerate the scoring.
“Our power play with the bat hasn’t clicked,” Keightley admitted. “We’ve tried a few combinations, Hayley being injured at the start, now we’re halfway through the competition, and they’ve found it hard to get going. It puts a lot of pressure on our middle order. We didn’t quite get enough, probably 25 runs, maybe 30 short.”
Injuries compounded the woes, with wicketkeeper Gunalan Kamalini ruled out for the season due to a shoulder issue, and Sajana nursing a knock from sliding into the advertising boards during the game. Keightley noted the four changes, including Vaishnavi Sharma’s debut and Shabnim Ismail’s return, stemmed largely from such blows, disrupting the top order experimentation.
“Yeah, Gunalan Kamalini’s is her shoulder enough to rule her out of the competition. Sajana slid and fell into the advertising board, we haven’t had much luck on the injury front this season,” she said, highlighting how these forced shifts prevented a settled lineup.
Turning to the defence, Keightley was forthright about the powerplay leaks that handed Delhi Capitals’ openers Shafali Verma (29 off 24) and Lizelle Lee (46 off 28) a 63-run platform. Despite Shabnim’s efforts, Mumbai’s seam-heavy attack, opting for swing over spin amid dew concerns, struggled against the firepower, especially after excluding Amelia Kerr for left-armer Vaishnavi Sharma.
The former South African wicket-keeper batter Lizelle Lee, in her debut season, is currently the leading run-scorer for Delhi Capitals and the 3rd highest run-scorer of the tournament with 213 runs at a strike rate of 154.34 and an average of 42.60 in five innings, including a couple of half-centuries in five matches with the bat for her side in the tournament so far.
“We weren’t able to bowl consistently and contain, and we leaked far too many boundaries in the powerplay,” Keightley reflected, praising Lee’s form: “She’s a classy player, she’s hard to bowl to, she’s doing well for Delhi Capitals, and she’s putting bowlers under pressure.”
Keightley justified skipping Kerr, citing seam’s effectiveness on a tricky pitch and dew favouring pace. Yet Rodrigues’ composed half-century (51* off 37 balls) alongside Kapp’s 10* sealed DC’s revival, leaving Mumbai to regroup amid a mounting injury list and batting rebuild.
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