Struggling Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals eye revival
Defending champions Mumbai Indians will be desperate to arrest their slide and revive their campaign when they take on an equally struggling Delhi Capitals in a Women’s Premier League match on Tuesday. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side have managed just two wins from five outings so far and have looked off the pace for large parts of the season.
They began with a loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru, before thrashing bottom-placed Delhi Capitals by 50 runs in the reverse fixture after defending 195.
Wins over Gujarat Giants by seven wickets offered some momentum, but back-to-back defeats against UP Warriorz — failing to defend 161/5 and then falling short while chasing 188 — forced them to play catch-up, even as they hung on to the Number 2 spot in the five-team standings.
MI’s biggest concern has been their powerplay returns. Hayley Matthews’ delayed comeback from injury and experimentation with Amelia Kerr and G Kamalini at the top have left them with their lowest powerplay run rate of the tournament (6.50).
The onus thus has fallen heavily on skipper Harmanpreet and Nat Sciver-Brunt and MI have struggled whenever the duo have not produced substantial scores.
Frequent chopping and changing in the XI, including Matthews moving in and out, Kamalini being shuffled down the order, and pace spearhead Shabnim Ismail sitting out, has added to the sense of instability. Their fielding too has been below par, with 10 dropped catches in five matches, hurting them at crucial stages. On the other hand, last season’s runners-up, Delhi Capitals, are rooted to the bottom of the table with three losses from four matches. They opened their campaign with successive defeats, first against the Mumbai Indians and then against the Gujarat Giants, when they fell just short while chasing 210.
Their lone win came against UP Warriorz, but an eight-wicket loss to RCB after being bowled out for 166 in their previous match has again stalled their progress.
Skipper Jemimah Rodrigues’ lack of runs in the middle order has hurt Delhi badly, while Laura Wolvaardt will be keen to return to form after a duck in the last game.
The South African skipper remains key to their batting, having looked imperious in her 38-ball 77 against Gujarat Giants in a near-successful chase of 210, which they lost by four runs. With the league stage entering the crucial Vadodara leg and each match carrying added significance in the eight-game format, Delhi would be desperate to find their consistency and move up the table.
