🏏WPL 2025: Mumbai Indians Women vs Delhi Capitals Women, Final 🏏 - Page 2

Two of the top three teams in the tournament’s points table, Mumbai Indians Women (MUM-W) and Gujarat Giants Women (GUJ-W), will play each other in the eliminator of the ongoing Women’s Premier League 2025 (WPL 2025). The game will be played at the Brabourne Cricket Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday, March 13, at 7:30 PM (IST).

Mumbai Indians Women finished their campaign in the league stage at the second spot in the standings, with five wins and three defeats in their eight games. They are coming off a narrow 11-run defeat against RCB Women in their last league match. Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. will aim to win this match and secure a spot in the tournament’s final.

On the other hand, the Gujarat Giants Women were placed in the eliminator of the tournament after they finished at the third spot in the table, winning and losing four games each in their eight games. They took on MI-W in their last league match and lost the game by a narrow margin of 9 runs. So, they will be eyeing clearing off the books with MI-W and qualifying for the tournament finals.

Harmanpreet Kaur's ability to unflinchingly guide Mumbai Indians in difficult situations could be the clinching factor for the former champions when they take on Gujarat Giants -- a team they have vanquished twice this season -- in the Women's Premier League Eliminator on Thursday. With Delhi Capitals already sitting snugly in the final after topping the WPL table with 10 points, the focus is now on India skipper Harmanpreet and Gujarat Giants' captain Ashleigh Gardner to guide their sides into the title round.

Mumbai Indians would certainly enjoy the home advantage as the match will be played at the Brabourne Stadium and the fact that they overwhelmed Gujarat Giants in their penultimate league game here on Monday, with Harmanpreet blazing to a 33-ball 54 in the nine-run victory.

Mumbai Indians' playing XI has largely remained unchanged with Hayley Matthews giving them flourishing starts while also tormenting the opponents with her off spin. The West Indian all-rounder could once again prove to be the match-winner for her team following her sterling performances against the Gujarat side in their previous two meetings this season.

She broke the back of Gujarat Giants, returning with figures of 3/16 in Vododara last month and again tormented them in the return match at Brabourne, snaring three wickets.

With Nat Sciver-Brunt doing the bulk of the scoring for MI, smashing four half-centuries and emerging as the top run-getter this season with 416 runs from eight matches, the onus would be on Gujarat Giants bowlers to tie down the England stalwart.

Sciver-Brunt's wicket-taking ability too cannot be underestimated, given that she along with Matthews have played a pivotal role in MI's successful run this season.

While Harmanpreet's form has been patchy this season, she did manage a half-century against Gujarat on Monday, which would have given her enough confidence going into the Eliminator.

Gujarat Giants skipper Gardner, who took over the captaincy from country-mate Beth Mooney this season, would know that beating the inaugural edition champions in their own den wouldn't be easy.

Her form has fluctuated all season, though she still continues to be among the top-five scorers with 235 runs. She scored a duck against Mumbai Indians on Monday, one of the reasons they lost the match, which dashed their hopes of automatically qualifying for the final ahead of Delhi Capitals.

Fingers crossed for MI to win 🤞

Thanks for the tag Madhu!

May the best team win.

Cheers..

Hello and welcome to ESPNcricinfo's live coverage. An Ivan Drago-esque outfit, carrying an aura of invincibility, playing at home in front of a partisan crowd that will roar and roar, versus the team daring to walk into that den, daring to dream and embodying the true Rocky Balboa spirit from yore.

All roads tonight lead to the Brabourne Stadium, where one of these teams' paths will wind up into what-might-have-been territory, while the other, elated, euphoric and eyeing eternal greatness, will begin plotting a path back to the Brabourne two days from now.

This is not a title decider. But it is a title Eliminator. A game that will leave someone cawing and crestfallen as their conquest caves in, metamorphosing what could've been their holy grail into a more nightmarish experience. And an encounter that will put one team a step away from the ultimate perch and pinnacle, and at handshaking distance with cricketing heaven.

The Mumbai Indians. Excellent batting unit, exceptional bowling attack. Power and strength in every department and at home, nigh-on unbeatable and invincible.

The Gujarat Giants. Bouncing back from the brink, not knowing what it means to throw in the towel. Stacked up against the odds from the start, yet, finding ways to return with increased vigour each time.

But the Giants have never beaten Mumbai. Never. Not in six attempts. Not at five venues. Not across four cities. MI have also only ever lost once at the Brabourne Stadium. A daunting mission then. A task most teams would baulk at. But a challenge the Giants have no option but to embrace.

MI played on Monday, Tuesday and are in action tonight again, with the possibility of a final on Saturday. Will fatigue play a role, or will they have enough for a side they have always beaten?

Hello and welcome to the Eliminator of WPL 2025 where the loser bows out of the tournament and the winner books their place in the final against Delhi Capitals. Mumbai Indians find themselves in this situation for the third year running, having finished second on the table yet again. Their opposition, though, is a team that has made it through the league stages for the very first time. Not many would've backed Gujarat Giants to qualify after the start they had, winning just one game in their first four matches. But the Ash Gardner-led side managed to turn things around as they peaked at the right time. However, the big question is, can they do it against MI - a team they've never beaten in the WPL? These two teams have met six times before, and MI have won every single one of those games. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur, in particular, loves facing the Giants and averages around 79 against them.