When the Women’s Premier League (WPL) was launched by the BCCI two years ago, people were apprehensive about its impact on the women’s game but after three seasons of the WPL, it is clear that the WPL has brought about a big change to the women’s game in India. Providing a platform for domestic players and bringing out a change towards the approach to the game in the country for the girls, it is safe to say that the WPL has done wonders for the women’s game in India and will continue to do so.
March 26 also marks the second anniversary of Mumbai Indians WPL 2023 triumph, with it being two years since Harmanpreet Kaur’s girls lifted the first-ever WPL title, taking down Delhi Capitals in the Final at the Brabourne stadium.
Kaur led from the front right off the blocks as Mumbai Indians kicked off their 2023 WPL campaign with a massive 143-run win in the first-ever WPL game. Mumbai had a strong run throughout the league stages with only a couple of hiccups right towards the business end which relegated them to a second-place finish in the table due to an inferior run rate.
The Eliminator against UP Warriorz was another dominant display from Mumbai Indians with Nat Sciver-Brunt’s 72* and Issy Wong’s hat-trick powering the team to the Final with a statement 72-run win.
On March 26, 2023, a packed Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai were seated to see Mumbai Indians face Delhi Capitals in the WPL 2023 Grand Final. Meg Lanning’s Capitals won the toss and elected to bat with Lanning stepping up with the bat.
It was Mumbai Indians English seamer, Issy Wong though, who ran through the Capitals top-order to hand Mumbai the early advantage. Wong dismissed Shafali Verma in the second over and made it two strikes as she rounded out the second over by sending Alice Capsey back to the pavilion for a duck. A couple of overs later, Wong sent back the promising Jemimah Rodrigues as well, leaving Capitals reeling at 35/3.
The experienced Marizanne Kapp and Shikha Pandey made sure Delhi crossed 100 but Amelia Kerr and Hayley Matthews dealt big blows to the Capitals batting effort in the middle and late overs, to see Delhi Capitals manage a paltry 131/9 in their 20 overs.
Mumbai, though, didn’t have the best start to the chase as they felt the nerves of a run-chase in the final. The reliant Hayley Matthews, who later on went on to win the Player of the Tournament in WPL 2023, and her opening partner Yastika Bhatia, were both back in the pavilion inside four overs as Mumbai were in a spot of bother at 23/2 with Radha Yadav and Jess Jonassen striking early on.
It was the two calm, composed and experienced heads of captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Nat Sciver-Brunt who bailed Mumbai out and saw Mumbai home in what turned out to be a tricky chase. Delhi’s bowlers put up a tight and valiant effort, but it was Sciver-Brunt’s unbeaten 60 that saw Mumbai sail through to a seven-wicket win to win the WPL 2023.
Mumbai’s Hayley Matthews ended the 2023 season with the Purple Cap for the most wickets, finishing with 16 wickets while Wong and Kerr also were up there with 15 wickets each. Meg Lanning took the Orange Cap for the most runs, while Sciver-Brunt finished as the second highest run-scorer and Mumbai’s highest run-score. Matthews was instrumental with the bat as well, finishing with 271 runs at an average of 30.11.
Fast-forward to the recently concluded WPL 2025, Mumbai got hands on the title yet again, defeating Delhi Capitals, becoming the most successful franchise in WPL’s brief history.
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