MI-W vs DC-W

End of the Saturday double-header then and while it's just one game in WPL 2026 tomorrow, it's a big one again as the Delhi Capitals return to this venue to take on the Gujarat Giants, who got off to a winning start earlier this afternoon. Do join us for our coverage of that contest right here on Sportskeeda with the first ball to be bowled at 7:30 PM IST. For the moment, this is the duo of Bidipto Datta and Sooryanarayanan Sesha taking your leave. Thank you so much for joining us as we hope you enjoyed our coverage. Have a happy Sunday - good night and take care!

A happy skipper and no wonder, for Harmanpreet Kaur has steered the Mumbai Indians to a massive win. They're on the board and with Nicola Carey stepping up to be counted, it does remain to be seen as to what they do once Hayley Matthews is fit. That of course is a happy conundrum to have although for the Delhi Capitals, they would do well to take a cue out of MI and turn things around in less than 24 hours' time when they take to the field yet again.

Harmanpreet Kaur, the Mumbai Indians captain, is the Player of the Match for her unbeaten 74 off 42 balls. Here's what she has to say: "It was a great game for us. Really happy with the way we played today. Very disappointed yesterday, things didn't go our way. But we came out with an even harder mindset so that we could execute things. Yesterday also I got a bit of a start but before coming to bat today I spoke to myself that I had to go with the same mindset. A new day, (I told myself) let's start with a new innings. I'm enjoying my batting and I should give credit to my Indian team and the MI team because I have that much time to express myself. In the Indian team we have a long batting lineup, here as well we have a long batting lineup. In the last game it was a matter of only one good ball but unfortunately we were not able to deliver that ball. Today we came with an even more positive mindset. It's only about believing in yourself at the right time. I think every wicket (excited me) because in T20 cricket if you get 10 wickets, you cannot expect more from your team. We came out very strong on the field."

Amelia Kerr (3/24 off 4 overs): "Nice to get the win! Harmanpreet (Kaur) and Nat (Sciver-Brunt) set it up with the bat and then, Nic (Nicola Carey) came up with wickets up front to open it up. Haven't batted well of course, but that's cricket. It's important to trust the game-plan and keep going. Lucky to be able to contribute with the ball! Thankfully, it's not my job to select the team, because it will be tough to leave anyone out when Hayley (Matthews) comes in! Today, the pitch had more pace and bounce. I decided therefore to bowl more leg-breaks." 

Jemimah Rodrigues (Delhi Capitals captain): "Today was one of those games. I think we were good with the ball, but, the batting needed to be better. We will work on that. It's a little different team from what it was before, so, it takes some getting used to. We're a really strong batting group, and we'll surely bounce back. Captaincy is something I enjoy. Yes it has been a tough start, but, we'll get on with it. It's a good thing that we are playing tomorrow, and good teams find their way not to overthink and get on the winning track." 

10:45 PM local time and IST: Mumbai Indians trounce Delhi Capitals by 50 runs!

Harmanpreet Kaur 74* (42) | Amelia Kerr 3/24 (4)
Chinelle Henry 56 (33) | Nandani Sharma 2/26 (3)

You don't keep champion teams down for too long. And within 24 hours, the Mumbai Indians have turned things around to record a facile win, notching up their first of the 2026 season to kickstart their title defense. A heartbreaking defeat last night would have forced them to go back to the drawing board and they sure made amends across all three departments today.

Half-centuries from skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and deputy Natalie Sciver-Brunt, assisted by a Nicola Carey cameo, powered MI to a massive 195 on the board. The bowlers duly took centerstage as just 15 runs came off the first three overs with both Shafali Verma and Lizelle Lee kept quiet. Shafali was given a serious workout by Shabnim Ismail before the pressure told on Lee, who fell to Sciver-Brunt. But Carey proved to be the wrecker-in-chief as her double-whammy saw her castle both Shafali and Laura Wolvaardt in the fifth over. Ismail then switched ends to send skipper Jemimah Rodrigues packing and the Delhi Capitals looked done and dusted inside the powerplay.

A rather thin batting lineup in terms of proven pedigree was direly exposed and wickets just kept tumbling at regular intervals. Marizanne Kapp couldn't do much, nor could Niki Prasad and the only DC batter to make some kind of impact was Chinelle Henry. In typical Chinelle Henry fashion at that, throwing caution to the wind and using her strong levers to great effect, pulverizing the MI attack. Young Triveni Vasistha was put under early pressure and soon enough, Harmanpreet turned to her frontline bowlers to try and get past Henry.

The West Indian star notched up a half-century but Kerr ran through the lineup at the other end. The asking rate kept mounting and surged above 20 before Henry perished, holing out to Carey, who shelled one in the deep earlier to mark the sole blemish on the field as MI turned up a whole lot better on that front as well. They played every bit like the champion outfit we've been so used to seeing over all these years and have clinically dispatched the Capitals to get on the board for the season. Lots to ponder over for DC before their next game tomorrow - stick around as we hear from the captains...

And that is that! Some way to bounce back after the heartbreak of last evening and the Mumbai Indians have announced themselves in style. What a victory this has been for the two-time champions!

18.6 Sanskriti Gupta to Nandani Sharma, THAT'S THE END OF THE MATCH! SANSKRITI IS IN AMONGST THE WICKETS TOO! Good length and angling away on middle-and-off. Nandani tried to work it to the on-side off the back foot but got a leading edge on it. Backward point ran in and took an easy catch in the end to hand Mumbai Indians their first win of WPL 2026! 

18.4 Sanskriti Gupta to Nandani Sharma, round the wicket, good length and flat on off. Nandani taps it back to the bowler from the back foot. 

18.3 Sanskriti Gupta to Nallapureddy Charani, good length and slow around off. Driven on the up, off the front foot, for a single to long-off. 

18.2 Sanskriti Gupta to Nallapureddy Charani, FOUR MORE! Full and wide outside off. Sliced away off the front foot to the right of backward point for a boundary here. 

18.1 Sanskriti Gupta to Nallapureddy Charani, round the wicket, FOUR RUNS! Full around off-stump. Driven firmly off the front foot, to wide long-off's right, for a boundary!