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The Mumbai leg of the Women’s Premier League, which is also the final week of the third edition, begins on Monday at the Brabourne Stadium with two of the three teams that have already qualified for the Playoffs facing each other. Mumbai Indians, winners of the first edition in 2023, and Gujarat Giants, who have three consecutive victories coming here, will clash for the top spot, which is currently held by Delhi Capitals.
DC, with five wins from eight matches, have qualified for the Playoffs before even the third and penultimate leg of the tournament in Lucknow last week. Finishing No. 1 in the five-team table means a direct entry into Saturday’s final while the second and third-placed teams clash in the Eliminator on Thursday.
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This is GG’s best run in WPL history, entering the top three after finishing last in each of the first two seasons. However, Giants, led by the No. 3-ranked WT20I all-rounder, Ashleigh Gardner of Australia, have never won any of their five head-to-head clashes against the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Mumbai Indians.
For Mumbai Indians to seek direct entry to the final, they have to win both their two league matches, against GG on Monday and Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Tuesday. MI, with eight points from six matches, are currently third in the table and can go up to a maximum of 12 points. Even one victory will do for MI, but they have to finish with the best net run-rate among the top three teams.
GG, on the other hand, can go up to a maximum of 10 points should they win on Monday. And, with superior net run rate (DC are +0.396, GG +0.334, MI +0.267), they could even finish on top. A loss for GG would mean playing the Eliminator against either MI or DC, depending on who finishes second at the end of the league stage.
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