🏏WPL 2026: Match 7: DCW vs UPWW at DY Patil on 14/01/26🏏

🏏WPL 2026: Match 7: DCW vs UPWW at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai on 14/01/26 7:30PM IST🏏

Winless in two games so far, Delhi Capitals and UP Warriorz will both be desperate to arrest early-season jitters and open their account when they face off on Wednesday (January 14) in a crucial league encounter - the first of the three closed-door matches in Navi Mumbai this week.

Delhi's losses have been polar opposite. They were blown away by Mumbai Indians by 50 runs in their season opener, and then fell just four runs short in a massive 209-run chase against Gujarat Giants. DC, the runners-up last-three seasons, have shown flashes of brilliance but lacked consistency in key moments. Their new-look top-order struggled to convert starts in the first game, and a continuing concern is lack of runs from both new captain Jemimah Rodrigues and star opener Shafali Verma.

Their overseas batters, the South African duo of Lizelle Lee and Laura Wolvaardt, nearly carried them through against a record target but the failure to get seven off the last over might haunt them as the season progresses. The batting needs to click as a collective unit, and much of that will depend on their experienced core stepping up under pressure.

That said, they have unearthed a new bowling gem in Nandni Sharma who became only the second Indian in the league to claim a WPL hat-trick, and went on to register a fifer in the same game. She's led the bowling charge ahead of the superstars in the line-up.

UP Warriorz, too, gave GG's 200+ target a good chase but fell short by 10 runs before a batting collapse of 5 for 29 in the space of four overs cost them two more points against RCB. In two games, UPW have already tested two different opening partners for skipper Meg Lanning, the frequent tinkering being an area of concern from the past season.

The bowling too - featuring an all-capped attack - has come under the scanner after conceding runs aplenty. If the 200+ they conceded in Game 1 can be attributed partially to the conditions, the attack looked completely at sea as Grace Harris-led RCB took them to the cleaners completing the 145-run chase in just over 12 overs.

With both teams eager to avoid slipping further behind in the points table, expect a high-intensity contest where execution in crunch moments could make all the difference.

When: Wednesday, January 14 at 7:30 PM IST

Where: DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai

What to expect: With heavy dew around, chasing remains a captain's preferred choice even though it has fetched mixed results. The conditions remain suitable for another high-scoring game.

Team News

Delhi Capitals: DC have stuck with the XI despite the defeats, and might just do the same going into the third game. Sneh Rana has proved expensive but there isn't an alternative on the bench unless they change their overseas makeup to hand a debut to legspinner Alana King.

Probable XI: Lizelle Lee (wk), Shafali Verma, Laura Wolvaardt, Jemimah Rodrigues (c), Marizanne Kapp, Niki Prasad, Chinelle Henry, Sneh Rana, Minnu Mani, Nandni Sharma, Shree Charani

UP Warriorz: The opening experiments side, UPW have fielded their strongest XI so far and would likely back it again to get them off the mark.

Probable XI: Kiran Navgire, Meg Lanning (c), Phoebe Litchfield, Harleen Deol, Deandra Dottin, Deepti Sharma, Shweta Sehrawat (wk), Sophie Ecclestone, Shikha Pandey, Asha Sobhana, Kranti Gaud

Team news & likely XIs

Nothing looks wrong with UPW's XI on paper, but they will be concerned by the economy rates of Deandra Dottin (15.80) and legspinner Asha Sobhana (13.25). Might be early days, but UPW will have to bring in an uncapped player if they want to replace either of those players.

UP Warriorz (probable): 1 Kiran Navgire, 2 Meg Lanning (capt), 3 Phoebe Litchfield, 4 Harleen Deol, 5 Shweta Sehrawat (wk), 6 Deandra Dottin, 7 Deepti Sharma, 8 Sophie Ecclestone, 9 Asha Sobhana, 10 Shikha Pandey, 11 Kranti Gaud

After a near-perfect game against GG, DC may not have a reason to change their XI too. It remains to be seen when they will give a chance to the 16-year-old hard-hitting batter Deeya Yadav.

Delhi Capitals: 1 Shafali Verma, 2 Lizelle Lee (wk), 3 Laura Wolvaardt, 4 Jemimah Rodrigues (capt), 5 Marizanne Kapp, 6 Niki Prasad, 7 Chinelle Henry, 8 Sneh Rana, 9 Minnu Mani, 10 N Shree Charani, 11 Nandani Sharma

Big question

For the last three years, UPW have relied heavily on their overseas players and Deepti Sharma. That trend seems to continue this year too, even though there has been a change in leadership.

In the spotlight: Nandani Sharma and Harleen Deol

Nandani Sharma is among the fresh faces this WPL who has hit the high notes early in the season. The 24-year-old medium-pacer from Chandigarh took two wickets on WPL debut and followed it with a historic five-for that included a hat-trick in the last over against GG. One of the highlights of her bowling so far has been to excel under pressure, proven by her dismissal of Sophie Devine and then striking multiple times in the death overs. If she can sustain her performance against UPW and through the season to bag an India cap in the future, she will be among the few pace bowlers who made the leap from the WPL to international cricket.

Even though Harleen Deol has batted in different positions so far, her scores hardly reflect her stature of an experienced India batter. Since UPW will be desperate for their Indian batters to step up, a big contribution from Harleen will bode well for the rest of their season. She could return to the middle order on Wednesday and whether it's early or as a finisher for quick runs, some runs under her belt could turn their season around.

Key stats

• Lizelle Lee has scored 37 off 25 and been dismissed once across four meetings against Deandra Dottin in T20Is. But when it comes to T20 leagues (WBBL and Kia Super League), it is a one-sided battle. Dottin has dismissed Lee in all four meetings, across 14 balls for two runs. However, the last time they faced each other was back in 2022.

• Meg Lanning against her former DC team-mate Marizanne Kapp will be something to watch out for. In T20s since the start of 2020, they have faced off in nine innings, and Lanning has scored just 26 runs off 39 balls while being dismissed five times.

• Also, Lanning is four runs away from becoming the third player to 1000 WPL runs.

• Every team that has won the toss in the WPL since the start of 2025 has elected to bowl - 28 out of 28 times.

Pitch & conditions

The DY Patil Stadium has hosted half the games it is supposed to so far and has been fairly high-scoring, with the 200 mark breached two times in five of its first innings, before Wednesday. The trend of opting to bowl is likely to continue and Navi Mumbai is likely to see temperatures in mid to early-20s on Wednesday evening.

DC W vs UP W: Probable Best Performers

Probable Best Batter: Lizelle Lee

Lizelle Lee (Source: Delhi Capitals/X)

Right from the onset, Lizelle Lee looked to be in supreme touch during her previous outing. In the game on Sunday, she marauded her blade to play a thunderous knock of 86 off just 54. However, her side failed to chase the target in a last-ball thriller, despite the valiant efforts. Nonetheless, Lee will prepare herself to play a match-winning knock tonight.

Probable Best Bowler: Sophie Ecclestone

Sophie Ecclestone. (Photo Source: WPL)

Sophie Ecclestone, the seasoned left-arm spinner, can pose some real danger in front of the Capitals in the upcoming contest. Her ability to keep the runs in check puts pressure on the opposition, which further results into crucial breakthroughs. The experienced campaigner will be hoping to deliver a match-winning spell in the upcoming fixture for her side.

Thanks for the tag Soni.

May the best team win.

Hopefully one of them will earn 2 points today.

Cheers..

Thank you Soni for the thread and for tagging me.

Best wishes to both the teams.

Originally posted by: SoniRita

🏏WPL 2026: Match 7: DCW vs UPWW at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai on 14/01/26 7:30PM IST🏏

Winless in two games so far, Delhi Capitals and UP Warriorz will both be desperate to arrest early-season jitters and open their account when they face off on Wednesday (January 14) in a crucial league encounter - the first of the three closed-door matches in Navi Mumbai this week.

Delhi's losses have been polar opposite. They were blown away by Mumbai Indians by 50 runs in their season opener, and then fell just four runs short in a massive 209-run chase against Gujarat Giants. DC, the runners-up last-three seasons, have shown flashes of brilliance but lacked consistency in key moments. Their new-look top-order struggled to convert starts in the first game, and a continuing concern is lack of runs from both new captain Jemimah Rodrigues and star opener Shafali Verma.

Their overseas batters, the South African duo of Lizelle Lee and Laura Wolvaardt, nearly carried them through against a record target but the failure to get seven off the last over might haunt them as the season progresses. The batting needs to click as a collective unit, and much of that will depend on their experienced core stepping up under pressure.

That said, they have unearthed a new bowling gem in Nandni Sharma who became only the second Indian in the league to claim a WPL hat-trick, and went on to register a fifer in the same game. She's led the bowling charge ahead of the superstars in the line-up.

UP Warriorz, too, gave GG's 200+ target a good chase but fell short by 10 runs before a batting collapse of 5 for 29 in the space of four overs cost them two more points against RCB. In two games, UPW have already tested two different opening partners for skipper Meg Lanning, the frequent tinkering being an area of concern from the past season.

The bowling too - featuring an all-capped attack - has come under the scanner after conceding runs aplenty. If the 200+ they conceded in Game 1 can be attributed partially to the conditions, the attack looked completely at sea as Grace Harris-led RCB took them to the cleaners completing the 145-run chase in just over 12 overs.

With both teams eager to avoid slipping further behind in the points table, expect a high-intensity contest where execution in crunch moments could make all the difference.

Thanks for the tag, Soni

All the best to both the teams! One of them will break the loosing streak today.

Looking forward to the match!