 "Defending champions Mumbai Indians are strong favourites for a second consecutive appearance in the WPL playoffs. Sportzpics")
More than two weeks have passed since the second edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) kicked off with a star-studded opening ceremony in Bengaluru featuring Shah Rukh Khan and a host of other Bollywood celebrities. Defending champions Mumbai Indians squared off against last year’s finalists Delhi Capitals in the opening game, pulling off a thrilling last-ball win to begin their title defence in style.
A total of 17 games have been played so far, and only four matches are left to be played in the group stage which then will be followed by the playoffs — the Eliminator, where the second and third-placed teams lock horns in a knock-out clash and the Final, where the winner of the Eliminator faces the team finishing at the top of the table at the end of the league stage.
With the second season of the WPL entering its final week, we take a look at the qualification scenarios for the five teams:
Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians currently sit at the top of the points table with 10 points to their name, having won five out of seven matches so far with a healthy Net Run Rate of +0.343. With their seven-wicket victory over Gujarat Giants on Saturday thanks to skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s blistering 95 not out, the defending champions have ensured they cannot fall out of the top three spots and will at least feature in the Eliminator if they can’t take the direct route into the final.
They face RCB in their final league match on Tuesday, and a victory in that game should help them finish on top of the table at the end of the league stage, depending also on how the Capitals, who had been leading the table for a majority of the season so far, fare in their last two games.
Delhi Capitals
The Meg Lanning-led Delhi Capitals had topped the table last year to secure a direct entry into the final before suffering a defeat against Mumbai Indians in the summit clash. They have been just as outstanding this season; while they began the season with a heartbreak, they would bounce back in ruthless fashion in their next outing with a nine-wicket demolition of UPW and a 25-run victory over co-hosts RCB. DC would even inflict a 29-run on MI in the first match of the season taking place at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium to exact revenge for the narrow loss in the season opener.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThey currently sit at the second spot with eight points, winning four out of six games, but can eclipse MI to the top of the table thanks to their superior Net Run Rate of +1.059. As such the chances of them missing out on the playoffs appear extremely low; the only way they’ll miss out on a top three finish is if they lose both of their remaining matches, RCB win both of theirs and UPW defeat GG in their final game. That will then have DC and UPW locked on eight points each, with NRR then coming into play.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
The Smriti Mandhana-led Royal Challengers Bangalore, like their male counterparts, had endured a disappointing debut season and finished second from bottom at the end of the league stage. Bangalore, however, have been a lot better this season, winning three out of six games to sit at the third spot with six points and a NRR of +0.038.
They face heavyweights DC and MI in their last two games of the league stage, and a victory against either of them should at the very least see Bangalore through to the Eliminator at the very least. However, if they lose both of their remaining games, they’ll be praying for a UPW defeat against GG and then for DC to defeat GG in the final league match. Even topping the group is a possibility for RCB, so long as they beat both DC and MI and pray DC end up losing against GG.
UP Warriorz
UP Warriorz had qualified for the knockouts last year after finishing third at the end of the league stage before suffering a 72-run hammering at the hands of eventual champions MI. The path to the knockouts, however, appears a lot more difficult for the Alyssa Healy-led side this time around with the team having won three and lost four to sit at the fourth spot with six points.
UPW are level on points with RCB, only for the latter to sit in the playoffs qualification zone due to a superior NRR, with the Warriorz one of only two teams with a Net Run Rate in the negative. Not only will they have to defeat GG by a big margin in their final match, they’ll also be hoping RCB don’t win more than one out of their remaining two matches.
Gujarat Giants
GG appear destined to finish at the bottom of the table for a second year running, and this despite captain Beth Mooney’s availability for the entire season. GG have lost five out of six matches and also happen to have the worst NRR of them all (-1.111).
They only way they can crawl out of the mess they find themselves in at the moment is if they beat UPW and DC in their remaining matches and also hope RCB lose both of their remaining games by big margins. That will lead to a three-way tie between RCB, UPW and GG where NRR might just allow the Giants to sneak through and pull off a heist of a lifetime. Else, even avoiding the bottom of the table would appear to be some progress.