The balanced surface at Dr. DY Patil Stadium will decide which team moves on to the final round, where Delhi Capitals has already booked a slot for itself, courtesy of the net run rate of +1.856. Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz will play the match at 7:30 pm IST today.
Both teams have met before, and that did not go down well for MI. UPW crushed Harmanpreet Kaur’s side by five wickets. The venue was the same, with UPW electing to bowl after winning the toss. Risky, considering eight out of ten matches have been won by the team that has bowled second. Yet, the result was in UPW’s favor.
The side was able to restrict Kaur & Co. to a total of 127 runs in their innings. Ecclestone picked three wickets, and she is likely to be the best bowler in the play-off as well. Complimenting her efforts were Deepti Sharma and Rajeshwari Gayakwad with two wickets each.
Hayley Matthews departed at 35 off 30 balls. The opening pair was broken up quickly by Sarvani after Yastika Bhatia went back to the pavilion. Brunt played eight balls to put up five runs for the side, and that was it; Ecclestone struck for an LBW, and the tables turned again.
Kaur and Issy Wong displayed a strong fight with 25 and 32 runs each. Other batters failed to leave a mark, and MI fell short of the desired runs to chase.
UPW took that to their advantage. Their opening pair was broken up quickly as well, but Tahila McGrath shot 6 fours and 1 six for a strike rate of 152.0, scoring 38 runs in just 25 balls. Grace Harris caused further damage by scoring 39 off 28 balls. Amelia Kerr came to the rescue, stopping the aggressive wicket from going any further.
It was too late, with the majority of the chase being done by them. Deepti Sharma and Sophie Ecclestone took their time and finished the chase with three balls left.
UPW was, however, unable to clinch the third victory in a row. DC defeated Healy’s side by chasing the target of 139 runs with 13 balls remaining. MI, on the other hand, is the favorite to win the tournament and comes back from a win over RCB after chasing 126 in 16.3 overs. A little earlier could have given them a better net run rate. Nonetheless, betting sites for cricket predict MI will advance to the final, and UPW to settle for the third position in the first edition of TATA Women’s Premier League.
The toss will be important, and the team to win is likely to choose to bat first.UPW batting first needs to set the target somewhere between 150-170 for a comfortable win. MI has the potential to set a higher target, and 160-180 should not take a long time to go to the scoreboard.
Every scenario plays out in favor of the team that bowls second and bats first. Meaning it is going to be tough to chase at Dr. DY Patil Stadium’s balanced surface.
