Mumbai Indians’ owner Nita Ambani and players celebrate with the trophy after winning the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 final cricket match against Delhi Capitals, in Mumbai, Sunday, March 16, 2025
| Photo Credit: PTI
In the end, three of the top-five run-getters in the third season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) belonged to Mumbai Indians. Three of the top five wicket-takers, including Amelia Kerr and Hayley Matthews sharing a joint-best of 18 scalps each, also wore the blue of MI.
Lifting titles and winning tournaments essentially boil down to having your best players step up in a big way at different stages. And MI, as it rejoices a second title in three years, had more top-notch contributors than any other franchise.
Take the two most important matches of MI’s season. In the Eliminator against Gujarat Giants, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Hayley Matthews stepped up with the bat with scores of 77 each. With the ball, Sciver-Brunt, Matthews, Amelia Kerr and Shabnim Ismail were all among the wickets.
In Saturday’s (March 15, 2025) final versus Delhi Capitals, Harmanpreet Kaur walked into a precarious situation and responded with a knock of the highest quality. In the field, defending a modest total of 149 for seven, MI’s bowling unit was more than the sum of its parts as it applied the squeeze on the Capitals batters. All its five bowlers contributed to the wickets column.
MI’s opponents in these crunch games didn’t have a similar output from their A-list performers.
After the final, MI coach Charlotte Edwards lauded Harmanpreet’s standout innings and leadership traits. But amid the euphoria, she didn’t forget to underline the importance of the whole team working in unison towards a successful campaign.
“Harmanpreet has been really calm. And she did everything in her power, didn’t she, with the innings she played. She brings out the best in our young players and works brilliantly with all our overseas and experienced players. And I think something that sets us apart is that we work as a team, we play as a team and tonight was a real team performance,” Edwards told reporters.
MI’s three world-class overseas all-rounders are intrinsic to the team’s results. Both Matthews and Sciver-Brunt are in the top-five run-getters and wicket-takers this year. Kerr didn’t quite click with the bat over the past month, but she is a celebrated member of MI’s star-studded line-up given her propensity to strike with her bag of tricks as a leggie.
“At the start of this whole MI journey, we went for overseas all-rounders. And we’ve got three of the absolute best,” Edwards said. “They’ve been fundamental to our success over the last three seasons.”
Published – March 16, 2025 01:52 pm IST
