Ever since the final round-robin match of the inaugural Women's Premier League 2023, where Delhi Capitals secured their direct entry to final, there's been an over-riding sense of deja vu. A side led by serial World Cup winner Meg Lanning was comfortably awaiting whoever made it through the extra tussle of an elimination threat to a sold-out title clash. Yet again, it's a spirited team led by Harmanpreet Kaur.
The similarities stop there, however, because it isn't quite Australia vs India. Sunday's (March 26) finale between Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians is a befitting contest between two very evenly-matched sides of the tournament who quite quickly rose to the top courtesy their all-round depth and are now vying for the ultimate glory.
At the halfway stage Harmanpreet's MI looked unstoppable with a perfect fifer upfront, all comprehensive wins, their top-four among the tournament's top-10 run-getters consistently, albeit shuffling positions among themselves. The Purple Cap too was firmly in left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque's hold. That clean record included a convincing eight-wicket thrashing of DC when the two unbeaten sides clashed in Navi Mumbai. Capitals flipped the script in the reverse fixture, restricting MI for 100-odd this time to pick up a NRR-defining win by nine wickets, again at DY Patil's transitioning tracks.
Two such defeats, batting first, meant MI had to take the extra long route to the final, but they were back to their most dominant self in the 72-run victory over UP Warriorz in the Eliminator. The MI of the old seemed back in action, where bowlers put in a combined shift after Nat Sciver-Brunt toyed with the bowling to negate Warriorz's spin advantage. Their strong showing has hinged on an in-form top-four, all amassing 200 runs at least in the season.
Capitals, on the other hand, are the only team in the competition to have not suffered successive losses. Their batting has been led by their talismanic captain Lanning, who hasn't quite lost hold of the Orange Cap for long and continues to lead the run-charts (310 in 8 innings), averaging close to 52. Like MI, the others in DC's (usual) top-four also feature in the top-15 of the season with consistent contributions coming right through.
However, it's with the ball that MI have fared better than DC and may hold an edge in a clash of otherwise comparable sides in their batting might. Mumbai have been superb with the ball, picking 41 wickets through their spinners and 25 through their pacers that included the tournament's first-ever hat-trick. Four of their bowlers - including the spin troika of Ishaque (15), Hayley Matthews and Melie Kerr (13 each) are in the season's top-five, all potentially in with a chance of snatching the Purple Cap from Sophie Ecclestone (16) on Sunday. Delhi, on the other hand, have two of the three fifers of the tournament against their name but have only taken 28 wickets with pace and 17 from their spinners.
Strange as it many sound, neither Lanning nor Harmanpreet has won a T20 league championship - the WBBL, Women's Super League and The Hundred combined. Come Sunday, at the first-ever WPL finale befitting of the hype, that script is about to change for one of those iconic captains and generational talents.
When: Sunday, March 26 at 7:30 PM IST
Where: Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai
What to expect:Of the two venues, the pitches at CCI have more or less stayed true to their batting-friendly reputation throughout the tournament. Given some slowness of the tiring pitches, the average first-innings score here has dropped from 175 in the first leg to 164 in the second. The center strip on offer for the finale is expected to be full of runs though, but dew could play a part in the second half. Teams chasing have been successful in 6 out of the 10 league games played at the venue.
Having booked a direct ticket to the finale on Tuesday, Delhi Capitals enjoyed a bit of a downtime. The team then trained for close to three hours under lights at the DY Patil on match eve even as skipper Lanning spent the day in media and broadcaster commitments at the CCI. The Capitals haven't tweaked their XI much throughout the season unless it was an injury concern. Poonam Yadav, who came in place of USA-born left-arm pacer Tara Norris, has only been used for just three overs in as many games and DC could make the swap again just to add more variety to their bowling attack against the batting might of MI.
Probable XI:Meg Lanning (C), Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Jess Jonassen, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav/Tara Norris
MI spent the only day before the title clash completely resting in their Navi Mumbai hotel. Barring skipper Harmanpreet, of course, who had a field day at the CCI alongside Lanning. It's unlikely Harmanpreet would want to fiddle with a combination that has gelled and worked so well for their campaign. Expect them to go unchanged with their strongest XI on paper.
Probable XI:Hayley Matthews, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Melie Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar, Issy Wong, Amanjot Kaur, Humaira Kazi, Jintimani Kalita, Saika Ishaque
"Batting with her has been great fun. She has got a unique style which works for her. She takes the game on and turns it in our favour. Hopefully she comes in with a clear mind and is ready to take the game on and I can watch from the other end." Meg Lanning on her opening partner Shafali Verma
"We were very happy that right from Day 1 a lot of people have been coming in and we've been particularly getting a lot of support from the crowd. That's what we were expecting and we're really happy with. Last game was some 30,000-odd people and that was something we've always hoping for. I'm sure tomorrow is another big day and with a lot of people coming and watching and supporting women's cricket... it's a great achievement for all of us." - Harmanpreet Kaur is pleased with the crowd turnout for not just MI but women's cricket on the whole.