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1 hour ago
Women’s Premier League Final, Mumbai
Mumbai Indians 149-7 (20 overs): Harmanpreet 66 (44); Kapp 2-11
Delhi Capitals 141-9 (20 overs): Kapp 40 (26); Sciver-Brunt 3-30
Mumbai Indians won by eight runs
Nat Sciver-Brunt claimed 3-30 and held her nerve at the death as Mumbai Indians won the Women’s Premier League for the second time with an eight-run win over Delhi Capitals in the final.
MI made a slow start after being asked to bat first as Marizanne Kapp took 2-11 from a miserly opening spell before Harmanpreet Kaur got them up and running with 66 off 44 balls.
The MI skipper cracked nine fours and two sixes as she shared an 89-run partnership with England all-rounder Sciver-Brunt for the third wicket.
MI’s innings stalled after Sciver-Brunt swept Shree Charani into the hands of mid-wicket for a 28-ball 30 and Harmanpreet followed not long after, caught in the deep off Annabel Sutherland.
Jess Jonassen and Charani finished with two wickets apiece for the Capitals as MI finished on 149-7.
Delhi lost captain Meg Lanning for 13 early in their reply, bowled by a Sciver-Brunt in-ducker, before fellow opener Shafali Verma was trapped lbw to Shabnim Ismail.
From 17-2 Jemimah Rodrigues led the fightback for Delhi – beaten finalists in the past two WPLs – with a gutsy 30.
But when she became Kiwi spinner Amelia Kerr’s second wicket in the 11th over, the scoreboard read 66-5 and the Capitals’ fate looked to be sealed.
However, South Africa all-rounder Kapp ensured the match went deeper than expected with a defiant 40 off 26 balls before she chipped Sciver-Brunt into the hands of long-off.
The Capitals required 14 runs off the final over of the game but Sciver-Brunt was ice cool with ball in hand as she conceded just five singles.
MI’s victory was their second over the Capitals in WPL finals, having beaten them by seven wickets in 2023.
Third time unlucky for Capitals as NSB stars
After winning the toss and batting first in the finals of the 2023 and 2024 WPLs – both of which they lost – Capitals skipper Lanning this time opted to bowl at the Brabourne Stadium when the coin came down in her favour.
It seemed the right ploy when the Capitals squeezed their opponents early on as the skilful Kapp gave them the upper hand with a superb opening spell.
Kapp claimed the key wicket of the dangerous Hayley Matthews with a clever set-up, bowling three away-swingers before a wobble-seam delivery nipped back.
Mumbai had to wait until the fifth over for a boundary and their powerplay score of 20-2 was the second lowest of this year’s tournament.
However, in a repeat of the 2023 final between the sides, Sciver-Brunt and Harmanpreet diligently rebuilt the innings for MI, laying a platform to go on the attack.
On that occasion it was Sciver-Brunt who played a leading hand with an unbeaten 60 but this time experienced India skipper Harmapreet was the chief protagonist.
Harmapreet showed the greater aggression, whipping Sutherland for six through mid-wicket then extravagantly striking three consecutive fours off Jonassen.
Sciver-Brunt’s knock was sufficient for her to become the first player in WPL history to pass 1,000 runs, sailing clear as the leading run-scorer with 523 in 10 innings at 65.37.
The total looked doable for the Capitals but they lost regular wickets as MI’s intensity in the field was backed up by some smart bowling.
Kiwi leg-spinner Kerr snaffled the wickets of Jonassen and Rodrigues to finish as the WPL’s joint top wicket-taker with Matthews on 18 victims.
But it was England vice-captain Sciver-Brunt who showed nerves of steel with the ball at the business end of the game as she first removed Kapp, then outfoxed the big-hitting Niki Prasad in the final over.
The ultra-competitive Kapp was in tears afterwards with Capitals left to rue their third consecutive defeat in a WPL final as MI’s lifted the trophy with franchise owner Nita Ambani.
