Delhi Capitals endured another heartbreak in the Women’s Premier League 2025 final, falling just 8 runs short against Mumbai Indians. Set a target of 150, DC struggled to gain momentum, losing key wickets at pivotal stages and failing to build steady partnerships.
While a few batters showed promise, Mumbai’s disciplined bowling unit kept them under pressure, making the chase increasingly difficult. Earlier, DC had done well to restrict MI to 149/6 in 20 overs, but a stellar 66-run knock from Harmanpreet Kaur under pressure proved to be the game-changer. In the end, Delhi’s title hopes slipped away once again, leaving them with unfinished business for the next season.
A gutted Jonathan Batty, head coach of the runners-up Delhi Capitals was at helm to wrap up the campaign on behalf of his team.
On Delhi Capitals’ performance in the finals, Batty said that they had three great seasons, finishing at the top of the table for three consecutive years. The team played some amazing cricket, which made it even more difficult to accept not crossing the finish line in the final. He acknowledged that everyone was hurting at the moment. He believed that 99% of the time, a team would back itself to chase 150 on that wicket.
However, in high-stakes finals, the occasion might have affected the players. He gave full credit to Mumbai Indians for their disciplined bowling effort in defending the total, stating that they executed their skills exceptionally well and made it very difficult for Delhi’s batting unit. The team never really got ahead of the chase, despite being in the game throughout, but ultimately fell short at the end.
The Capitals haven’t been able to cross the finishing line in all three seasons and have emerged runners-up three times. Addressing the same, the coach said, “I don’t think it’s a mental block at all. You look at how we performed with the ball and in the field in that first half—to keep them to that total on that wicket. Given what we saw through the week with the elimination games, we were expecting 180 to be around par. So, we were really, really pleased with that. The players were very up for it. I think they were fine in terms of mentality. I don’t think it was a mental block at all. It was just the opposition—they outplayed us today and quite rightly deserved to win the game.”
On DC’s team combination, the head coach said that when they came out of the auction in the first year—the mega auction—they had an incredibly strong squad, with 15 out of 18 players being full internationals at that point. The squad has been strengthened every year since then. He mentioned that one of the toughest jobs as coaches was selecting the best XI. Arundhati Reddy and Radha Yadav had been fantastic over the three years, and the squad as a whole had performed exceptionally well.
Some players featured in the early part of the tournament, and the coaching staff had to consider the balance of the side. He highlighted N. Charani’s outstanding performances throughout training, noting that she had been brilliant in the one game she played before this and had bowled really well against quality players in the final. He expressed his satisfaction with the XI they selected, believing it was the right decision. However, he acknowledged that it was tough on the two other exceptional players who missed out. He added that when a team recruits well and has a strong squad, it becomes difficult to fit everyone in.
The Capitals may have lacked momentum as they were playing after a 6-day break. On the planning ahead of the final, he said, “It’s been a challenging couple of weeks because we had only two games in 15 days since qualifying for the finals. We’ve been in a bit of a holding pattern, not knowing whether we would go straight through to the final or have to play the eliminator. We were relying on other results. The girls have been really positive throughout. I can honestly say there has been no negative talk—no sense of, ‘Oh, we’ve messed up the last two finals, and we’re going to carry that baggage into this one.’
“There’s been none of that. I thought they were really positive and confident going into the game today. I don’t think there are any storylines within our camp. The girls have been fantastic. They’ve trained superbly over this period. We had four games in a week in Bangalore, and by the end of that, they were quite tired. So, in some ways, this break was good for them. No, I don’t think we had any lingering doubts about the past finals. And at the halfway mark today, we probably should have won that game with the bat.”
Applauding his counterparts, Batty said that Mumbai Indians were a wonderful team and deserved two-time winners of the WPL. With players like Harmanpreet Kaur and Nat Sciver-Brunt, a lot of planning had gone into facing them. He felt that the team managed to keep them quiet for a while, particularly Sciver-Brunt, who had an outstanding tournament, scoring over 500 runs.
He mentioned that they had specific plans in place, and the team executed them very well. He praised Harmanpreet Kaur’s performance, stating that her innings was the difference between the two teams. He also acknowledged Meg Lanning’s leadership, saying that she thrived in the captaincy role and had played well throughout the tournament while leading a fantastic group of players over the last three years.
The coach hinted that the heartbreaking loss is a tough pill to swallow for the team. He said, “Right now, we are all hurting. It’s going to take time to process what went wrong. But that’s cricket—two great quality teams going head-to-head in a tight game. Losing by eight runs—that’s just two boundaries. It was a match that could have gone either way. I don’t think there’s a common denominator in our losses. Sometimes, one team wins, and the other loses, and unfortunately, we’ve been on the losing side three times.”
Mumbai Indians were punched hard by Delhi in the first innings where they lost 2 wickets at a score of 14. However, Brunt and Kaur joined hands for a 99-run partnership to stop the turbulence. On Kaur and Brunt’s partnership “Kaur took the attack to us. I thought we bowled pretty well, but she took a few risks, and they paid off for her. With Sciver-Brunt, the partnership was pivotal for them, as it has been all season. Breaking through that and reducing the total we had to chase was a great effort. We held our nerves well through that partnership.”
The 50-year-old said that going into the chase, 150 was an achievable total. Considering the team’s style of play—positive, aggressive cricket—he believed they would have won that game nine times out of ten. However, he credited Mumbai for bowling exceptionally well and never allowing them to get ahead of the run rate. He noted that they had a reasonable power play, possibly slightly better than Mumbai’s, but lost a few too many wickets. Under pressure, Mumbai’s bowlers did not allow them to gain control of the game.
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