Rosa Simkin (@rosatalksball) – 26/02/24
Date – 26/02/24
Time – 7:30pm (Local – GMT +5), 2:00pm (UK – GMT)
Location – M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
Where to Watch – Sports18 Network (Local), Sky Sports Mix (UK)
My Prediction – Delhi Capitals Win
My Tournament Guide – https://rosatalksball.com/2024/02/22/2024-womens-premier-league-everything-you-need-to-know/
WPL season two sees another highly anticipated match day, with the UP Warriorz taking on the Delhi Capitals in Bengaluru as both sides look to take home their first victories of this years tournament. Both sides suffered agnosing defeats to RCB and the Mumbai Indians respectively in their first fixtures last time out. Here is the latest news, stats, analysis word from the coaches and more ahead of the fixture this afternoon.
Order of Contents – Head to Head, The Squads, UP Warriorz (Word from Jon Lewis, The Leadership Team, Last Time Out, 2024 Stats so Far, 2023 Stats, 2024 Fixtures), Delhi Capitals (Word from Jonathan Batty, The Leadership Team, Last Time Out, 2024 Stats so Far, 2023 Stats, 2024 Fixtures), WPL 2024 Current Standings.
Head to Head:
Two Games – Delhi Capitals (2 Wins), UP Warriorz (0 Wins)
The Squads
UP Warriorz – Alyssa Healy (C & OS), Anjali Sarvani, Deepti Sharma, Grace Harris (OS), Kiran Navgire, Chamari Athapaththu (OS), Laxmi Yadav, Parshavi Chopra, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Yashasri, Shweta Sehrawat, Sophie Ecclestone (OS), Tahlia McGrath (OS), Danielle Wyatt (OS), Vrinda Dinesh, Saima Thakor, Poonam Khenmar, Gouher Sultana
Delhi Capitals – Meg Lanning (C & OS), Jemimah Rodrigues, Alice Capsey (OS), Arundati Reddy, Jess Jonnasen (OS), Laura Harris (OS), Marizanne Kapp (OS), Minnu Mani, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Shafali Verma, Shikha Pandey, Sneha Deepthi, Taniya Bhatiaa, Titas Sadhu, Annabel Sutherland (OS), Aparna Mondal, Ashwani Kumari
The Delhi Capitals elected to retain all but three members of their 2023 squad, after making it all the way to the final of WPL1 before falling to Mumbai Indians in the final and the UP Warriorz are also mainly unchanged, releasing four of their 2023 squad which saw them reach the eliminator. Danni Wyatt is the most notable auction signing for the Warriorz, with Sri Lankan all rounder Chamari Athapaththu entering the fold to replace Lauren Bell who pulled out of the tournament due to the ECB’s selection requirements. The stand out release has to be South African quick Shabnim Ismail, who has played two games this season for Mumbai Indians taking 1/24 (4.0) and 3/18 (4.0) after managing just three games for the Warriorz last season.
UP Warriorz:
The UP Warriorz will be hoping to go one step further in this year’s WPL and reach the final, after falling to defeat against the Mumbai Indians in the eliminator of the tournament last year. Led once again by England women’s head coach Jon Lewis and captained by Australian captain Alyssa Healy.
The wicket-keeper batter is a prolific opener who was in the runs last time out, scoring 253 across the nine innings she played making her joint with Aussie teammate Ellyse Perry at 7th in the overall rankings. She will however be without her head coach Jon Lewis if the side advance out of the group stage, with the England Head coach leaving early to join up with the English side ahead of their series against New Zealand kick starting the 19th of March.
“I would say I’m much better prepared this year than I was last year, in terms of expectation of what’s going to happen and so I feel a lot calmer. And hopefully that will spread into the team and the team will play better cricket because of it. I’ve built some trusted relationships already with some of the girls here at UP, especially the local players. I think, from my point of view, that will be the probably the biggest point of difference between the two seasons – if we can get more from our local players, and they’re able to make match winning contributions rather than the small contributions they made last season,” – UP head coach Jon Lewis on higher confidence and preparation heading into the 2024 WPL
Last Time Out:
The UP Warriorz suffered a disappointing blow to start their 2024 campaign, suffering a 2 run defeat to RCB. After winning the toss and limiting RCB to 157 runs from their 20 overs, the chasing side fell 2 runs short after giving themselves too much to do in the final over.
The chase started well, at the beginning of the 15th over the game looked done and dusted for the Warriorz, having scored 116 runs and lost just three wickets, therefore needing just 42 runs from 30 balls with two set batters at the crease; Shweta Sehrawat with 28 from 21 balls and Grace Harris with 36 from 19 balls. However, from that point the task at hand looked significantly more difficult and by the end of the 16th over they had lost three wickets (in six balls) and scored 12 more runs. Relying on the new batters to score 30 off just 18 balls.
The task became too steep and they fell an agonizing 2 runs short of their target, despite a positive start from Poonam Khemnar, scoring 14 from just seven deliveries before being bowled by Georgia Wareham. They’ll be looking to bounce back and secure their first points of 2024 tonight.
The wickets for UPW came from Rajeshwari Gayakwad who took two and Grace Harris, Thalia McGrath, Sophie Ecclestone and Deepti Sharma all taking one each. Grace Harris and Shweta Sehrawat were in the runs, scoring 38 and 31 respectively.
The bowling attack for the Warriorz was 66% spin, with 4 of 6 used being spin bowlers of some form. This arguably isn’t surprising, given the location of the tournament but it is very common under head coach Jon Lewis to have a spin heavy attack.
“Well yes,” says Lewis, when asked about whether it will be spin to win for his team. “Because there’s a real strong belief of mine that right at this point in time, fast bowling in particular in women’s cricket is the biggest area of growth and development. And spin bowling is the most consistent area of women’s cricket. If you look around all the best teams in the world, they all have high-quality spinners in terms of international cricket. Most of the teams that win franchise competitions have in any conditions, England, Australia, and here in India, high-quality spin bowling. So to have the caliber of spin bowling we have in our squad, for me is incredibly exciting and I expect them to play a big part in the tournament.” – Jon Lewis on spin bowling in women’s cricket.
2024 Stats So Far:
4s – 17
6s – 4
Top Wicket Taker – Rajeshwari Gayakwad (India) – 2 Wickets (4 Overs), 6.00 Economy
Top 3 Run Scorers:
- Grace Harris (Australia) – 38 Runs (1 Innings)
- Shweta Sehrawat (India) – 31 Runs (1 Innings)
- Thalia McGrath (Australia) – 22 Runs (1 Innings)
Best Bowling Average – Rajeshwari Gayakwad (India) – 12.00
Best Economy – Rajeshwari Gayakwad (India) – 6.00
Highest Batting Strike Rate – Poonam Khemnar (India) – 200.00
2023 Top Wicket Takers & Run Scorers:
Top 5 Run Scorers:
- Thalia McGrath (Australia, 3rd Overall) – 302 runs from 8 innings at an average of 50.33.
- Alyssa Healy (Australia, 8th Overall) – 253 runs from 9 innings at an average of 31.62.
- Grace Harris (Australia, 10th Overall) – 230 runs from 5 innings at an average of 57.5.
- Kiran Navgire (India, 18th Overall) – 155 runs from 8 innings at an average of 19.37.
- Deepti Sharma (India) – 90 runs from 8 innings at an average of 12.85.
Top 5 Wicket Takers:
- Sophie Ecclestone (England, 2nd Overall) – 16 Wickets from 213 balls at an average of 14.68 and an economy of 6.61.
- Deepti Sharma (India, 12th Overall) – 9 Wickets from 209 balls at an average of 34.33 and an economy of 8.87.
- Rajeshwari Gayakwad (India, 14th Overall) – 7 Wickets from 180 balls at an average of 35.14 and an economy of 8.20.
- Anjali Sarvani (India) – 4 Wickets from 138 balls at an average of 45.5 and an economy of 7.91.
- Shabnim Ismail (South Africa) – 3 Wickets from 63 balls at an average of 30.66 and an economy of 8.76.
2024 Fixtures (Still to Play):
Monday, February 26: Delhi Capitals v UP Warriorz (Bengaluru, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Wednesday, February 28: Mumbai Indians v UP Warriorz (Bengaluru, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Friday, March 1: Gujarat Giants v UP Warriorz (Bengaluru, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Monday, March 4: Royal Challengers Bangalore v UP Warriorz (Bengaluru, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Thursday, March 7: Mumbai Indians v UP Warriorz (Delhi, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Friday, March 8: Delhi Capitals v UP Warriorz (Delhi, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Monday, March 11: Gujarat Giants v UP Warriorz (Delhi, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Delhi Capitals
The Delhi Capitals, simularly to the Warriorz will be looking to advance up the rankings in this years WPL and hope to win the whole thing after falling short to the Mumbai Indians in last year’s campaign. Their hopes were however stunted after an agonising defeat to the Mumbai Indians in their opening game.
The sides leadership team remains unchanged from last year’s campaign, with Australian great Meg Lanning captaining and former English player Jonathan Batty coaching the side.
Lanning recently announced her retirement from international cricket, after leading the Aussie side for 13 years and winning seven World Cups, leading her side to five of them. She scored a whopping 8,352 runs in 241 matches across formats and batting is where her expertise lies. She was the top scorer in the 2023 edition of the tournament, scoring 345 runs across 9 innings and rightfully earning the orange cap.
“I have been in conversation with Meg regularly. We were together in WBBL for Melbourne Stars as well. She is really looking forward to coming back and leading the team in the second edition,” – DC Head Coach Jonathan Batty on the captaincy of the side in WPL2
Last Time Out:
The Delhi Capitals opened this years edition, with a replay of last years final, facing the Mumbai Indians in Bengaluru. They scored a massive 173 runs from their 20 overs, ending on 173/6. England youngster Alice Capsey stood out for the side, scoring 75 runs from just 53 deliveries with eight 4s and three 6s! Jemimah Rodrigues (42 from 24) and captain Meg Lanning (31 from 25) were also in the runs, helping them to reach that total.
Coming in to bowl they started on a huge high, with South African quick Marizanne Kapp bowling last years 5th highest run scorer Hayley Matthews for a 2 ball duck. A steady fall of wickets and a multitude of boundaries however saw Mumbai requiring 12 off the final over, with the set Harmanpreet Kaur (51 from 32) and new batter Pooja Vastrakar (1 from 2) in the middle. The decision was made to hand star batter, Capsey the ball with the hopes of continuing her heroics and it did seem that would be the case, with Capsey getting the wicket of Vastrakar on the 1st ball.
Two runs followed on the second ball, after an outstanding save on the boundary, then a single to put Kaur on strike. With a 4 following it seemed Mumbai may chase down the mamoth total, now requiring 5 off 2. But it wouldn’t be a WPL game without drama, with Harmanpreet Kaur caught the next ball by Annabel Sutherland. With 5 off 1, one would argue the game is done and dusted for DC, surely a new batter can’t come to the crease and hit a six first ball to seal the deal? Unfortunately for the Capitals, stand corrected! Sajeevan Sajana became the hero for Mumbai hitting a huge six on her first ball to take the reigning champions over the line.
“We were reading the wicket, and it was tougher to bat against pace bowling. We tried to leave as many runs as possible for the Indians to score, and Capsey bowled brilliantly. Going from 12 off the last over to five off the final ball is an outstanding performance. Meg Lanning is an excellent captain; she goes with her gut feel and it was absolutely the right call to do that,” said Batty, justifying his decision to go with Capsey in the final over.
“It was an outstanding game of cricket to kick off this year’s WPL. Both sides played excellent cricket. We were pretty pleased at the halfway point. Mumbai Indians bowled superbly with the new ball and kept us under control, but we handled the pressure well. If we had executed and been disciplined with the ball, we would have had a good chance of winning too. But I’m proud of all of the players for their outstanding performance” – Head coach Batty on his sides performance.
2024 Stats so Far:
4s – 19
6s – 6
Top 3 Wicket Takers:
- Arundhati Reddy (India) – 2 Wickers (4 Overs), 6.75 Economy.
- Alice Capsey (England) – 2 Wickets (2 Overs), 11.50 Economy.
- Marizanne Kapp (South Africa) & Shikha Pandey (India) – 1 Wicket (4 Overs), 8.00 Economy.
Top 3 Run Scorers:
- Alice Capsey (England) – 75 Runs (1 Innings)
- Jemimah Rodrigues (India) – 42 Runs (1 Innings)
- Meg Lanning (Australia) – 31 Runs (1 Innings)
Best Bowling Average – Alice Capsey (England) – 11.5
Best Economy – Arundhati Reddy (India) – 6.75
Highest Strike Rate – Marizanne Kapp (South Africa) – 177.78
2023 Top Wicket Takers & Run Scorers:
Top 5 Wicket Takers:
- Shikha Pandey (India, 5th Overall) – 10 Wickets from 192 balls at an average of 21.1 and a 6.59 economy.
- Marizanne Kapp (South Africa, 8th Overall) – 9 Wickets from 216 balls at an average of 22.88 and a 5.72 economy.
- Jess Jonassen (Australia, 9th Overall) – 9 Wickets from 210 balls at an average of 29.88 and a 7.68 economy.
- Tara Norris (USA, 11th Overall) – 7 Wickets from 66 balls at an average of 12.71 and a 8.09 economy.
- Alice Capsey (England, 13th Overall – 6 Wickets from 129 balls at an average of 25.16 and a 7.02 economy.
Top 5 Run Scorers:
- Meg Lanning (Australia, 1st Overall) – 345 runs from 9 innings with an average of 49.28.
- Shafali Verma (India, 9th Overall) – 252 runs from 9 innings with an average of 31.5.
- Marizanne Kapp (South Africa, 13th Overall) – 177 runs from 7 innings with an average of 44.25.
- Alice Capsey (England, 14th Overall) – 159 runs from 7 innings with an average of 26.5
- Jemimah Rodrigues (India) – 126 runs from 7 innings with an average of 25.2.
2024 Fixtures (Still to Play):
Monday, February 26: Delhi Capitals v UP Warriorz (Bengaluru, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Thursday, February 29: Royal Challengers Bangalore v Delhi Capitals (Bengaluru, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Sunday, March 3: Delhi Capitals v Gujarat Giants (Bengaluru, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Tuesday, March 5: Delhi Capitals v Mumbai Indians (Delhi, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Friday, March 8: Delhi Capitals v UP Warriorz (Delhi, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Sunday, March 10: Delhi Capitals v Royal Challengers Bangalore (Delhi, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Wednesday, March 13: Delhi Capitals v Gujarat Giants (Delhi, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
2024 WPL Current Standings:
