BENGALURU, Feb 27: Former champions Mumbai Indians will look to avenge their first-leg loss and continue the recent winning streak when they take on Delhi Capitals in a top-of-the table Women’s Premier League clash here on Friday.
Only DC managed to upstage MI in the four matches at Vadodara earlier this month, and revenge will be high on the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side’s mind when it takes the field on Friday.
Since that loss, MI have been on a three-match winning streak, beating Gujarat Giants by five wickets, Royal Challengers Bengaluru by four wickets and UP Warriorz by eight wickets respectively.
And come Friday, MI would want to continue the run to keep their place at the top of the league standings.
MI are currently leading the WPL table with six points from four games, but are closely followed by DC on six points from five matches.
MI’s strength lies in its power-packed batting line.
English batter Nat-Sciver Brunt has been in terrific form for the inaugural champions, leading the run-getters’ chart with 254 from four matches, including three half-centuries.
Skipper Harmanpreet too is in good touch and has a fifty to her name in four games.
Hayley Matthews’s return to form augurs well for MI. The West Indies opener hit a 50-ball 59 in MI’s comfortable eight-wicket win over UP Warriorz in their last match here on Wednesday.
But wicketkeeper-batter Yastika Bhatia hasn’t come good at the top of the order which remains a cause of concern for MI. Besides New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr too will be desperate for runs in the middle-order.
Sciver-Brunt is not just contributing with the bat. With the ball in hand, she returned with impressive figures of 3 for 18 in MI’s last match.
Shabnim Ismail has also been impressive for MI with the new ball, while they will depend on Amanjot Kaur, Mathews and Kerr’s all-round abilities in the middle overs.
DC, on the other hand, have not been particularly consistent in their three wins out of five games.
The team is one of the pre-tournament favourites, and it will take confidence from the six-wicket win over Gujarat Giants in its last game on Tuesday.
DC’s batting lineup has finally fired with Shafali Verma (44) and Jess Jonassen (61 not out) striking form.
But skipper Meg Lanning, who had just one good outing, continues to struggle at the top.
Jemimah Rodrigues, and Annabel Sutherland have provided occasional fireworks in the middle-order but DC would look for more consistent performances from the batting department.
In Shikha Pandey, Marizanne Kapp, young Titas Sadhu, Sutherland and Minnu Mani, DC also boast of a formidable bowling attack. (PTI)
TEAMS:
Mumbai Indians: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Nadine de Klerk, Sanskriti Gupta, Saika Ishaque, Shabnim Ismail, Jintimani Kalita, G Kamalini, Amandeep Kaur, Amanjot Kaur, Sathyamoorthy Keerthana, Amelia Kerr, Akshita Maheshwari, Hayley Matthews, Sajeevan Sajana, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Parunika Sisodia, Chloe Tryon.
Delhi Capitals: Meg Lanning (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Sneh Deepthi, Alice Capsey, Annabel Sutherland, Arundhati Reddy, Jess Jonassen, Marizanne Kapp, Minnu Mani, N Charani, Niki Prasad, Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Nandini Kashyap (wk), Taniyaa Bhatia (wk), Sarah Bryce (wk), Titas Sadhu.
Match Starts at 7:30 pm IST