MI claim second WPL title with victory over DC in thrilling final

Delhi Capitals failed to break their record of coming second best in the finals of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 as Mumbai Indians held their nerve to emerge victorious by eight runs in the 2025 season title clash and clinch their second title in front of 14,700 fans at the Brabourne Stadium on Saturday.

MI’s win was set up by captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who timed her shots and placed them exquisitely to top-score with 66 as the hosts posted 149/7. In defence of 150, Nat Sciver-Brunt took 3-30, including taking out Marizanne Kapp, while Amelia Kerr picked 2-25 as MI restricted DC to 141/9 in their 20 overs.

For DC, barring Marizanne’s 40, Jemimah’s 30, and Niki Prasad’s 25 not out, none of DC’s batters got going as they froze under pressure yet again and couldn’t handle MI’s bowlers standing up when it really mattered the most to become the most successful franchise in WPL.

Chasing 150, DC lost both openers Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma in the first three overs. While Meg was castled by a ripping off-cutter from Nat for 13, Shafali was trapped lbw for four while looking to flick off Shabnim Ismail. It marked the first time Meg and Shafali were dismissed for less than 15 runs in the same WPL innings for DC.

Jess Jonassen hit much-needed boundaries for DC by slashing Hayley Matthews twice before Jemimah swept her for another four. But shortly after the power-play ended, DC continued to slide. Jess miscued the slog off a googly from Amelia, and the top edge was caught by Yastika Bhatia, who later stumped Annabel Sutherland off Saika Ishaque’s bowling.

Jemimah waged a lone battle by hitting three boundaries off Amelia, but the all-rounder had the last laugh by diving forward to take a catch after extracting a leading edge off the batter. Though Marizanne hit two boundaries, each off Nat and Hayley, a mix-up in communication led to her seeing Sarah Bryce being run out for five.

With 52 runs needed off the last five overs, Marizanne cleanly lofted Saika for four and then had luck on her side when Amelia took the catch, but it went over the boundary rope and got her a six. Immediately after, she drilled a drive down the ground, and Shabnim couldn’t save the ball from touching with the boundary rope for four, as 17 runs came off the 16th over.

After six runs came off Shabnim in the 17th over, DC’s last big hope in the chase was extinguished when Marizanne holed out to long-off against Nat, who castled Shikha Pandey on the very next ball. Hayley had Minnu Mani slicing to backward point, and despite Niki being unconquered, DC again suffered heartbreak as MI showed their much admired big-game temperament to experience the ecstasy of a championship win at home, yet again.

Meanwhile, South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt says Test cricket will always be the pinnacle of the sport and believes the women’s game needs to be a showcase for more red-ball matches at the elite level. Only 26 test series have been played in women’s cricket over the last two decades. Matches between England and Australia account for 12 of those, with the remainder also featuring India, South Africa and the Netherlands.

The West Indies, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - teams with well established men’s test sides - have not played in any during that period.

While New Zealand’s men won the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021, the country’s women have not played a test since 2004.

“It’s very disappointing that these teams haven’t been able to play a test match,” Wolvaardt told Reuters in a recent interview.

“Some of the New Zealand players would be very good at test cricket. I hope it’s something that’s in the calendar more.

“It’s the ultimate form of the game, so I would love to see more of it in the schedule.”

Wolvaardt, who made her test debut in 2022 and scored her first century two years later, is only the third player to score a hundred in all three international formats after England’s Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont.

“I love test cricket ... it’s definitely a big challenge, something to get used to having not played much of it domestically growing up or any of it for that matter. I really hope there’s more of it in the future,” she added.

Wolvaardt said domestic competitions such as the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in India and the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia were important for the growth of the women’s game.

Agencies