It’s that time of the Women’s Premier League season again. With the league into its final week, it is time to take out our calculators to try and figure out which of the five teams will finish in the top three and move into the play-offs.
March 7: Mumbai Indians beat UP Warriorz by 42 runs
March 8: Delhi Capitals vs UP Warriorz
March 9: Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians
March 10: Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
March 11: Gujarat Giants vs UP Warriorz
March 12: Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
March 13: Delhi Capitals vs Gujarat Giants
Delhi Capitals
Remaining fixtures: UP Warriorz (March 8), Royal Challengers Bangalore (March 10), Gujarat Giants (March 13)
The Season 1 runners-up are in pole position to punch their tickets to the WPL final for a second straight season. Meg Lanning’s team will claim the top spot with 14 points if they win all their remaining matches.
Not only are the Capitals playing at home, but they also have a favourable schedule. On Friday, they face the UP Warriorz who will be playing back-to-back matches with no breaks in between. The Capitals also play the final match of the league stage against the Gujarat Giants on March 13, thereby knowing what they need to do to qualify directly for the finals.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Remaining fixtures: Delhi Capitals (March 10), Mumbai Indians (March 12)
After a poor first season last year, the Royal Challengers Bangalore finally nailed their combination this time around, and in front of home fans, got their campaign off to a good start winning three of their first five matches.
However, they have managed to make things difficult for themselves after losing to, arguably, the weakest team in the tournament, the Gujarat Giants, on Wednesday.
Bangalore, who have six points, have arguably the toughest fixtures to end the league stage. They face the Capitals before taking on Mumbai Indians in their final fixture. They will also need the UP Warriorz to lose one of their three remaining matches.