Sitting at the bottom of the Women's Premier League points table, Delhi Capitals will be looking to infuse some energy into the campaign when they take on defending champions Mumbai Indians in match 13 of the season in Vadodara tonight.
DC have notched just one win in four matches they have played so far. It was a 7-run victory over UP Warriorz during the Navi Mumbai leg of the tournament. Back in Navi Mumbai, the three-time finalists tasted heavy defeats against Mumbai Indians (50 runs) and Royal Challengers Bengalur (8 wickets). They came close to beating Gujarat Giants but eventually fell short by 4 runs.
With the chances of qualifying for the knockouts evaporating fast the questions are being raised on DC's decision to release Meg Lanning and make Jemimah Rodrigues the team's new skipper.
It looks like the burden of leading a side is weighing heavy on Jemimah as her form with the bat has taken a serious hit. The right-handed batter has not managed to go past 25 in each of the four innings she has played and has been dismissed in single digits on two occasions.
There are some positives that DC can draw from their poor run.
Newcomer Nandani Sharma has bowled well so far and picked 9 wickets. The pacer is joint third, alongside Lauren Bell, Sophie Devine, Shreyanka Patil and Nicola Carey, on the list of bowlers with most wickets this season. On the batting side, Lizelle Lee has shown some promise with 167 runs in four innings.
To turn things around DC's star players like Shafali Verma, Laura Wolvaardt,and Marizanne Kapp will have to come up with good performances.
MI have other problems. The players are performing but the results are not going their way. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur has struck two half-centuries and aggregated 199 runs, the second-most this season. Amelia Kerr with her leg-spin, is leading the bowling department. The New Zealand all-rounder has picked 10 wickets, the join-most with RCB's Nadine de Klerk. All-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt is also in good form having scored two fifties and picked 7 wickets.
This is a pressure game for both sides as neither of them can afford any more losses if they harbour the hopes of progressing further in the tournament.
Pitch:
A batting friendly pitch is expected tonight.
Also Read: WPL 2026 Points Table: Check Latest Standings As RCB Qualifies For Play-Offs
DC v MI possible playing 11
Delhi Capitals: Shafali Verma, Lizelle Lee (wk), Laura Wolvaardt, Jemimah Rodrigues (capt), Marizanne Kapp, Niki Prasad, Sneh Rana, Minnu Mani, N Shree Charani, Nandani Sharma, Lucy Hamilton.
Mumbai Indians: G Kamalini (wk), Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Amelia Kerr, Amanjot Kaur, Nicola Carey, Sajeevan Sajana, Sanskriti Gupta, Kranthi Reddy, Triveni Vasistha.
DC v MI Head to Head last five matches
Delhi Capitals have had an upper hand over Mumbai Indians in the last five meetings between these two sides. DC have emerged victorious in three game with MI managing wins in the other two matches.
Form Guide (last five matches)
Mumbai Indians: L-L-W-W-L
Delhi Capitals: L-L-W-L-Ll
Match Time and LIVE stream details
The match gets underway at 7.30 pm IST. It will be streamed LIVE on the JioHotstar app and broadcast on the Star Sports channel.
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