Mumbai: Mumbai Indians players celebrate their win against Delhi Capitals in the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2025 final cricket match, in Mumbai, Saturday, March 15, 2025.(PTI Photo/Kunal Patil) Mumbai: Mumbai Indians players celebrate their win against Delhi Capitals in the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2025 final cricket match, in Mumbai, Saturday, March 15, 2025.(PTI Photo/Kunal Patil)

Once again, it was so close yet so far for the Delhi Capitals! They narrowly lost to former champions Mumbai Indians by 8 runs in the Women's Premier League 2025 final on March 15 at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. This marks DC's third consecutive WPL final defeat. (Match Highlights | Full Coverage | More Cricket News)

It was a match full of tension and drama! Mumbai Indians, after being asked to bat first, posted a modest yet challenging total of 149/7 in their 20 overs -- the highest score ever in a WPL final. Delhi Capitals fought hard, but despite some late fireworks, they could only muster 141/9 in their chase, falling agonizingly short by 8 runs.

Once MI's most impactful player through the tournament, Nat Sciver-Brunt removed DC skipper Meg Lanning with an off-cutter and Shafali Verma, who has not shown any signs of improvement as far as his technique is concerned, was caught plumb in-front for shuffling to Shabnim Ismail, the chances for the visiting team were minimal.

Jemimah Rodrigues (30 off 21 balls) tried for a while and so did Marizanne Kapp (40 off 26 balls) but it didn't prove to be enough in the end.

Having batted like a champion, Harmanpreet's years of experience of being an international skipper of repute proved to be handy as she marshalled her resources admirably, rotating the bowlers, not allowing the batters to get settled.

Whether it was Sciver-Brunt (3/30), Shabnim Ismail (1/15), Amelia Kerr (2/25 in 4 overs) or Indian youngster Saika Ishaque (1/33 in 4 overs), MI got wickets just when DC seemed ready for a pushback.

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During the first innings,9x999 cassino Harmanpreet saved her best for the big day as her scintillating 44-ball 66 was instrumental in building Mumbai's innings after the openers fell cheaply at the hands of Marizanne Kapp.

Hurricane Harman steps up on the big stage 🔥For her swashbuckling knock of 66(44) under pressure, #MI captain Harmanpreet Kaur is named the Player of the Match👏Scorecard ▶ https://t.co/2dFmlnw05L #TATAWPL | #DCvMI | #Final | @ImHarmanpreet pic.twitter.com/0R5zOhGSCg

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 15, 2025

Cut above the rest of Indian women cricketers in terms of sheer quality, the manner in which the Indian skipper pierced the off-side field was a sight to behold.

She took on the opposition's most successful bowler of the tournament, Jonassen, who had to be taken off the attack by DC skipper Meg Lanning and the bowling changes suddenly didn't work.

At the other end, tournament's highest run-getter Sciver-Brunt (30 off 28 balls) completed her personal tally of 500 runs in this edition but for a change, played second fiddle, allowing Harmanpreet to enthrall the near-capacity Brabourne Stadium crowd that cheered her every stroke.

The duo added 89 in little over 10 overs but just when it looked that MI are setting themselves up for a big total, left-arm spinner Charani got Sciver-Brunt caught at square leg while trying to slog sweep.

"The first match in the Olympics is never easy. New Zealand is not an easy team, We made some mistakes, but there were a few good things as well. It's a good wake-up call for the team," Sreejesh said.

They then took the lead through Vivek Sagar Prasad in the third quarter, with a contentious field goal that withstood a referral owing to lack of evidence to the contrary as the ball was deemed to have just crossed the goal line.

From a safe 103 for 3, it became 118 for 6 in no time as Jonassen's twin blows in the 16th over increased pressure on Harmanpreet.

First it was Amelia Kerr, who had a torrid run with the bat, caught at the edge of the circle and then Sajeevan Sajana's attempted slog sweep went haywire as she was trapped leg-before.

Finally, it was Sutherland, who got the MI skipper, who went for one shot too many. MI ended at least 15 short of par score but it didn't hurt them one bit.

With this, Mumbai Indians who won their first WPL title in the inaugural season in 2023 defeating the same rivals Delhi Capitals by 7 wickets, become a two-time champion.

And, as a matter of fact, Delhi Capitals topped the WPL points table in all three editions, then proceeded to lose each of the finals.

The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side had booked their spot in the WPL 2025 final with a 47-run victory over Gujarat Giants in the playoffs, whereas DC topped the WPL points table and earned direct entry to the final.

(With PTI inputs)heroijogo