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This is the first time in four seasons that the final of the Women’s Premier League will not be played on a weekend

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Nov-2025The 2026 Women’s Premier League (WPL) will have its final on a weekday (Thursday, February 5), and not over the weekend, for the first time, and feature two double-headers, both on Saturdays, after kicking off on January 9.The 28-day-long tournament will be played across two venues: Navi Mumbai, where India won the ODI World Cup in early November beating South Africa in the final, and Vadodara. The first 11 matches, including the two double-headers, will be played at Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium, and the remaining 11 matches, including the eliminator on February 3 and the final will be played at Vadodara’s Kotambi Stadium.The dates and venues were confirmed by the WPL’s chairman, Jayesh George, on Thursday, the day of the WPL auction. All games bar the earlier fixture on the double-header days will be evening affairs.The week of the final is a busy one for multi-team competitions, with the men’s Under-19 World Cup finishing the day after the WPL final, on February 6, and the men’s T20 World Cup starting the following day, on February 7.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Apart from having a weekday final, this is the first time the WPL will be played in the January-February window. The first three seasons were played in February-March just before the start of the IPL. This will also be the first time the WPL will not clash with major international fixtures.Mumbai Indians (MI) are the defending champions of the WPL and have won two titles in three editions so far, with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) the other past winners. Delhi Capitals (DC) have been runners-up in all three seasons. The other two teams, Gujarat Giants and UP Warriorz, have never made the title round.Ten days after the WPL ends, India will start an all-format tour of Australia, playing three T20Is, three ODIs and a Test from February 15 to March 9.

WPL 2026 schedule

Jan 9: Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Jan 10: UP Warriorz vs Gujarat Giants
Jan 10: Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals
Jan 11: Delhi Capitals vs Gujarat Giants
Jan 12: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs UP Warriorz
Jan 13: Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Giants
Jan 14: UP Warriorz vs Delhi Capitals
Jan 15: Mumbai Indians vs UP Warriorz
Jan 16: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Gujarat Giants
Jan 17: UP Warriorz vs Mumbai Indians
Jan 17: Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Jan 19: Gujarat Giants vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Jan 20: Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians
Jan 22: Gujarat Giants vs UP Warriorz
Jan 24: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Delhi Capitals
Jan 26: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Mumbai Indians
Jan 27: Gujarat Giants vs Delhi Capitals
Jan 29: UP Warriorz vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Jan 30: Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians
Feb 1: Delhi Capitals vs UP Warriorz
Feb 3: Eliminator
Feb 5: Final

American investment fund is first to conclude negotiations as it expands Birmingham sport portfolio

Matt Roller25-Jul-2025The American investment fund Knighthead Capital has completed a £40 million takeover of Birmingham Phoenix, marking the first finalised transaction in the Hundred’s sales process.Knighthead, the New York-based group, acquired a majority stake in Birmingham City FC two years ago and were successful bidders for a 49% interest in Birmingham Phoenix in late January. The sale transaction was completed on July 15, per paperwork filed to Companies House, and the franchise will be run in partnership with host county Warwickshire.Tom Wagner, Knighthead’s co-founder, has been appointed to the Phoenix board as a director along with colleagues Andrew Shannahan and Kyle Kneisly, both of whom are on Birmingham City FC’s board. The legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady has a small interest in Knighthead but will not serve as a director.Knighthead’s purchase forms part of wider plans to create a ‘Sports Quarter’ in Birmingham, which would include a new 62,000-seat football stadium. Wagner has already successfully lobbied for government funding for new transport links and said last month that he saw the Hundred as an opportunity to underline his commitment to the city.Related

• Two remaining Hundred deals 'on track' after six new investors finalise terms

• Hundred sale explainer: Who has bought what and for how much?

• Hundred sale process encounters delay over future TV rights

• ECB consider 'de-coupling' Women's Hundred in bid for standalone sell-outs

• Eoin Morgan appointed to London Spirit board of directors

“We really, genuinely want to see Birmingham continue to develop and grow,” Wagner told the BBC. “The Phoenix is a great way to expand the exposure of the city to a broader, more global audience. It’s also a way for us to tie-in to the substantial south Asian community that is here in Birmingham.”Warwickshire and Knighthead will assume operational control of the Phoenix after the 2025 season of the Hundred, which runs from August 5-31. The county will retain four out of seven board seats as majority owners, with Mark McCafferty (chair), Stuart Cain (chief executive), Craig Flindall (strategy director) and Adam Lowe (commercial director) serving as directors.The ECB initially planned for all eight sales transactions to be signed off by early April but negotiations over paperwork have dragged on far longer than first anticipated. “It is about the ‘what ifs’,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould told ESPNcricinfo last month. “I hate to think how many sets of lawyers are in on this, but that’s what they’re paid to do.”ESPNcricinfo has learned that several other transactions are either finalised or close to completion, though it remains to be seen if all eight will be signed off before the 2025 season starts in 10 days’ time. Four of the seven other new investors are owners or co-owners of IPL franchises, while the other three are US-based like Knighthead.

Cricket Victoria are making major changes due to the Covid-19 pandemic

ESPNcricinfo staff05-May-2020The major job losses at Cricket Victoria caused by the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic have claimed the Melbourne Renegades’ WBBL head coach Tim Coyle who had been in the role three years.Last week Cricket Victoria confirmed a significant restructuring of its organisation in the wake of cost-cutting measures with community cricket especially hard hit.During Coyle’s time the Renegades reached the finals in both the 2018-19 and 2019-2020 seasons.”The challenges delivered by the current climate have forced us to reassess every area of our High Performance program and unfortunately this has led to the end of Tim’s tenure with the Renegades,” Cricket Victoria’s general manager of cricket Shaun Graf said.”This certainly takes nothing away from Tim’s contribution to the Melbourne Renegades in his time as Head Coach. He’s led the club to back-to-back finals campaigns and a number of players have graduated to the national team under his direction.”We’d like to thank Tim for his hard work over the last three seasons and wish him well for the future.”Last year the Melbourne BBL teams, the Renegades and the Stars, were brought under the Cricket Victoria structure. They have both lost major sponsors in recent months.Coyle’s departure also means both teams are now searching for a new head coach after Leah Poulton quit her position with the Stars after less than a month to take up a job as head of female cricket with New South Wales.

Thrilling contest goes down to wire as Lewis Gregory hold his nerve at Taunton

Matt Roller25-Jun-2021At the highest-scoring T20 ground in the world defending a total of 172 is near-impossible, not least with an in-form Colin de Grandhomme hitting 66 off 34 balls in a run-chase. But an extraordinary fightback and a dramatic collapse meant Somerset did just that to kick their Vitality Blast season into life and leaving Hampshire, once a proud T20 force, facing a fourth successive group-stage exit.Hampshire needed 53 off 36 balls when Lewis Gregory, Somerset’s captain, returned for his third over of the night, and when he conceded 18 off the first five balls with de Grandhomme cutting him away with disdain, it looked as though the game was up. But Gregory went round the wicket to angle one across de Grandhomme, who holed out to deep cover; Hampshire lost their heads, and five for 27 off the last 31 balls. When Chris Wood skewed a catch to cover off the last ball, Gregory roared in celebration: Somerset had a win in front of a home crowd under the Friday-night lights for the first time in two years.This was the second-lowest 20-over total that Somerset had ever defended at Taunton, two runs more than the 170 they had managed against a Gloucestershire side captained by Kane Williamson a decade ago. They were reliant on Tom Banton and Will Smeed’s half-centuries – they were the only two Somerset batters to reach double figures – but it was Marchant de Lange, recalled after missing the win at The Oval on Wednesday night, who was the real match-winner.This was not the flat track that is usually served up here. “There was a lot more grass and the bounce was a bit tennis-bally,” Banton said. “[de Lange] didn’t play the last game and was pretty upset but he showed his class.” He didn’t concede a boundary in his four overs, defending the short leg-side boundary to the right-handers, and started the squeeze in the middle of the innings to keep the game alive.It had looked for all money like it would be de Grandhomme’s night, only half an hour before he was sat in the makeshift away dressing room listening to a long enquiry into Hampshire’s fourth defeat in five completed games. He had taken the wickets of James Hildreth and his New Zealand team-mate Devon Conway, both chipping to mid-on in the second over – “I know how to bowl to him,” de Grandhomme smiled wryly afterwards – and while Banton had dished out some rough treatment in his last two overs, he was in the mood with the bat.Colin de Grandhomme drags himself off•Getty Images

De Grandhomme had driven straight down the A303 this evening from the Ageas Bowl, having taken a recovery day in the on-site hotel following New Zealand’s World Test Championship final win. “I had a good rest yesterday all day,” he said. “We had a good night, but then had a good day yesterday in the pit.” He hit 18 runs off his first four balls, including one six off Craig Overton that cleared both pavilions at midwicket and must rank among the biggest on this ground, and tucked into Gregory’s first two overs.Wearing a shirt bearing only his initials – perhaps Hampshire’s kit supplier charges by the letter – he put on 78 with D’Arcy Short for the second wicket and 44 with Joe Weatherley for the third, but with Liam Dawson absent on England duty, the rest of the middle order was unable to get Hampshire over the line. The decision to leave Sam Northeast out of the matchday squad for the last two weeks looks ill-advised at best, though at least their seven-match stretch of away games has finally come to an end.Related

• Jake Libby, Brett D'Oliveira put Worcestershire back on track with eight-wicket win

• Daniel Bell-Drummond fifty enough as Essex collapse before the rain

• Matt Critchley benefits from last-ball drop as Nottinghamshire tie again

• Arron Lilley cracks 99 not out as Callum Parkinson stymies Yorkshire run-chase

The win was set up by Banton, whose 77 was the second-highest score of his T20 career and a welcome return to form after a difficult year for him. He was the aggressor in a 58-run stand with Smeed – three years his junior in a boarding house at King’s College Taunton – and played his full range of shots, tucking into de Grandhomme over the leg side and reverse slog-sweeping Mason Crane for six.”In previous games [this season] I’ve just gone too hard, too early,” he said. “I’m quite emotional talking because that means the world to me to win that game. I’ve come back off a weird 12 months. It’s been hard for me – I’m not going to lie and I’m not going to hide behind that. It’s one of the worst games ever when it’s not going for you.”Smeed, meanwhile, found scoring much harder early on, eking out 26 off his first 30 balls before finally kicking on towards the end of his innings, dragging Somerset towards something defendable and marshalling the tail – no mean feat for a 19-year-old. Scott Currie, who took 4 for 31, was the pick of the Hampshire attack, hanging the ball wide outside off stump and taking the pace off; less than two hours later, he was trudging off in defeat after two hopeful swings from No. 9.

Jamie Overton smashes last two balls for six each to make it five wins out of five

Aadam Patel24-Nov-2021It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster year for Phil Salt. After breaking his foot in a freak cycling accident before the start of the County Championship, he made the most of his brief opportunity to play for England for the first time over the summer. The powerful opening batter, however ended the 2021 domestic season without playing a red-ball game, before leaving Sussex to join Lancashire.Now with successive knocks of 63* off 28 and 56 off 23 for Team Abu Dhabi, Salt is finishing off his campaign in style, showcasing his fearlessness and class at the top of the order.After a player-of-the-match performance against the Chennai Braves on Monday, again Salt was the star for Liam Livingstone’s side as they pulled off another last-ball win.Chasing 122 against Delhi Bulls, he helped set the platform with an innings that included three fours and five sixes, before Jamie Overton, with 20 off five, smashed Dwayne Bravo for two sixes from the last two deliveries to make it five wins out of five for the Abu Dhabi outfit.In a side filled with renowned hitters like Livingstone, Chris Gayle and Paul Stirling, Salt has been the top scorer thus far for Team Abu Dhabi with 157 runs in five T10 innings, hitting 11 fours and 13 sixes, and striking at rate of 200+.Salt described the mood in the Team Abu Dhabi camp as “brilliant”.”We’ve got coaches that back us to the hilt and we’ve got a great group of lads that also back each other to the hilt, so as a player there’s not much more you can ask for,” Salt said.He and skipper Livingstone had got the equation down to 37 off 18, before both were dismissed by Dominic Drakes. Yet, such is the depth of their batting line-up, that it was left to none other than Gayle and Overton to take them home.No side had chased 18 in the final over of a T10 game, and when Gayle was run out with ten needed off two, it looked like it would be a first defeat for Team Abu Dhabi.But Overton ensured that their unbeaten run went on, by slogging Bravo over the sight screen then dispatching a slower ball over long-on for six more. He even had Gayle jumping out of his seat at the end.”If I was to get greedy, I’d say that I wanted to be out there at the end tonight, but I had to take the punt I did when I took it and Jama [Overton] played a great knock and won us the game,” said Salt.Paul Farbrace spoke earlier in the week about how far Salt’s keeping had come after working with Sarah Taylor, and Overton mentioned how well Salt has been striking the ball in the nets. “To be honest, the first net session I bowled to Phil I was like, ‘jeez, this guys in serious form’,” Overton said.The 25-year-old Salt joined Lancashire at the end of the season but his former Sussex teammate, Luke Wright, was full of praise for the man with whom he opened the batting at Hove. Unfortunately for Wright, making his first appearance since Finals Day, he was on the other end of a scintillating knock from Salt at the Zayed Cricket Ground.”I picked him out of the academy to come and open the batting with me years and years ago, so it’s great to see him develop the way he has and obviously he’s added the keeping to his game,” Wright said. “He’s hugely dangerous and he can strike sixes from ball one.”In this format of the game, if you don’t get it right, he’s going to punish you. It’s nice to see him continue developing. We were sad to see him leave Sussex obviously, but he’s a good player and hopefully one day he’ll be playing for England.”Salt’s appearances for England so far have been limited to three ODIs after a covid outbreak meant that a replacement squad had to be called up in the summer for the series against Pakistan and his brutal half-century at Lord’s, which included ten boundaries, was good enough to pass a Jason Roy impression contest.England’s white-ball depth is such that the line of top-order batters is long and filled with talent such as Roy, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow, but Salt is doing a fine job of showing he is ready to seize another opportunity, if it comes along.

Fines also handed out to John Blain, Matthew Hoggard and Rich Pyrah

ESPNcricinfo staff26-May-2023The ECB’s Cricket Disciplinary Commission (CDC) has announced sanctions in the wake of its hearings into allegations of racism at Yorkshire, with a range of suspensions and fines for the six former players and coaches – Gary Ballance, John Blain, Tim Bresnan, Andrew Gale, Matthew Hoggard and Rich Pyrah – who were found guilty of using racist and/or discriminatory language.The bans will only take effect if the individuals seek to return to playing/coaching within the ECB’s jurisdiction. They each have until Friday, June 9 to appeal the CDC decisions.Gale, the former Yorkshire captain who went on to be head coach between 2016-2021, was fined £6000 and given a four-week suspension from coaching, although he has not been involved with the game since being sacked by the club.Related

• Gale lands Tasmania pathway job two years after Yorkshire sacking

• Vaughan cleared of racism charge by ECB disciplinary committee

• Cricket Discipline Committee racism hearings: The verdicts

• Yorkshire's reckoning with racism needs a progressive outcome

• Ballance retires from all cricket after brief Zimbabwe comeback

Ballance, who retired last month having recently switched from representing England to Zimbabwe, received a £3000 fine and six-match playing suspension, having admitted to his offence in advance of the hearing. Bresnan and Hoggard, both former England internationals, were fined £4000, with Bresnan also receiving a four-match ban.Both Blain, the former Scotland seamer, and Pyrah, who was Gale’s assistant at Yorkshire, were handed £2500 fines. All six were reprimanded and urged to take an “appropriate racism/discrimination education course identified by the ECB”, at their own expense.All of the sanctions were less severe than those recommended by the ECB earlier this month.The charges were laid in the wake of evidence given by former Yorkshire allrounder Azeem Rafiq, following revelations before a parliamentary select committee in 2021. A seventh player, former England captain Michael Vaughan, was cleared of a similar charge of using racist language.Yorkshire, who admitted four ECB charges ahead of the hearings in March, also face being penalised, with the CDC panel – made up of chair Tim O’Gorman, Mark Milliken-Smith KC and Dr Seema Patel – set to hear submissions on June 27.

Sussex fast bowler promoted from rookie list as ECB announce contracts for 21 players

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Feb-2019England Women have awarded fast bowler Freya Davies her first full central contract ahead of their upcoming tour of India.Davies, 23, was part of the Western Storm side that won the 2017 Kia Super League and finished runners-up last season, having made her first senior appearance for Sussex aged just 14 in a T20 against Middlesex. She has been promoted to a full contract for 2019 from a rookie contract.”I’m absolutely thrilled to receive my first full contract,” Davies said. “It’s always been my aim to represent England and this is an exciting step in the right direction. I’m looking forward to continuing the hard work, and the challenge now of getting myself picked.”England Women face India in three ODIs in Mumbai starting on February 22 and three IT20s in Guwahati in March.Davies is among 21 players centrally contracted to ECB for 2019, with four of those on rookie deals, including Surrey’s Bryony Smith, who received her first call-up to the senior team for last year’s tri-series against India and Australia. Smith is joined on the rookie list by Linsey Smith, Alice Davidson-Richards and Katie George.Tash Farrant and Beth Langston have been released, while Dani Hazell announced her retirement from the international game last month. Langston was part of the squad that won the ICC Women’s World Cup while Farrant’s most recent tour was as part of England’s runners-up finish in the ICC Women’s World T20.England Women contracted players Tammy Beaumont (Kent), Katherine Brunt (Yorkshire), Kate Cross (Lancashire), Freya Davies (Sussex), Sophie Ecclestone (Lancashire), Georgia Elwiss (Sussex), Jenny Gunn (Warwickshire), Alex Hartley (Lancashire), Amy Jones (Warwickshire), Heather Knight (Berkshire), Laura Marsh (Kent), Nat Sciver (Surrey), Anya Shrubsole (Somerset), Sarah Taylor (Sussex), Fran Wilson (Kent), Lauren Winfield (Yorkshire), Danni Wyatt (Sussex). Rookies: Alice Davidson-Richards (Kent), Katie George (Hampshire), Bryony Smith (Surrey), Linsey Smith (Sussex).

Six major venues across South Africa will host the competition which is set to start in November

Liam Brickhill11-Oct-2018Wanderers, Kingsmead, Newlands, SuperSport Park, St. George’s Park and Boland Park will be the host venues for the six teams in Cricket South Africa’s new-look T20 league.CSA announced the venues following an assessment by Nielsen Sport, a sports industry data analysis firm. While CSA has asserted that they own all the teams, the chief executives at the various bodies that run South Africa’s cricket grounds – Cricket Boland, Western Province Cricket Association, Eastern Province Cricket Board, Gauteng Cricket Board, Northerns Cricket Union and KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Union – will essentially be the team managers, appointing coaches.”The key mandate given to all our Members in applying to be a host venue was the primary goal of luring new and traditional fans, other sports fans and the wider general public to our stadia,” said CSA chief executive Thabang Moroe. “This process was, in fact, started some time ago when CSA embarked on a National Stadium Grading Process of all our first-class venues.”The various CEOs who have been running those stadiums will act as managers for these various teams. They will come out and announce the new names of the teams, the logos of what the teams will look like, and they are the ones who will then appoint the coaches, and the coaches will appoint their own support staff.”The league itself has not yet been named, but Moroe explained during a pitch-side interview at South Africa’s T20I against Zimbabwe in East London that it would have a “uniquely South African” name.”It won’t be called the Global T20,” he said. “I hope it’s a name that South Africans will be proud of. We just thought of a uniquely South African name.”Moroe’s interview during the game was aired on SABC 3, the same channel that the T20 league games will be shown on after CSA’s announced a partnership with SABC, South Africa’s public broadcaster. That deal reportedly gave the SABC exclusive official broadcast rights for the Sub-Saharan regionThe new league is set to launch on November 9, with the player draft scheduled for October 17. While the details of the draft are yet to be divulged, team names are expected to be announced in the next few days. But with under a month to go, the timeline to market and deliver the event is shrinking, especially as CSA and SABC are still yet to agree to the specifics of their deal and sign a full contract.”We’re working very hard with SABC in terms of drafting the contract, we just want to wrap up the long-form agreement between us, the SABC as well as our other partners then we can make all the necessary announcements,” Moroe said at Buffalo Park.”This is purely a step that we need to follow from a risk point of view, giving the disappointment of us having to postpone the league last year. The board has given me a strict mandate that before we announce anything, we have all the necessary agreements in place and they’re signed.”Despite losses of over R200 million following the failure of the inaugural GLT20, CSA has said that its annual financial statements would still show “substantial reserves”. They will have to dig a little deeper into those reserves in their new league’s first season, for which they are budgeting for a R40 million loss.While those sorts of costs are nothing unusual – it took years for IPL teams to start making a profit, the Big Bash League made a AUD33 million loss over its first five years, and the ECB’s new competition, The Hundred, is facing spiralling costs – CSA is also facing the threat of legal action from several owners of the initial GLT20. That may necessitate further costs before the new T20 league gets underway.

All five matches will be held at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka

Mohammad Isam22-Jul-2021The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has confirmed that Australia will arrive in Dhaka on July 29 to play five T20Is against Bangladesh, from August 3 to 9. Australia will comply with local health regulations by being quarantined in their hotel rooms for three days before they begin training at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, where they will play all five matches.”The BCB and Cricket Australia have worked tirelessly together for confirming the itinerary,” BCB’s chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury said. “Naturally this was a challenge due to the Covid-19 pandemic as ensuring health safety and security is a priority prerequisite for holding any cricket series in these times. I am pleased to say that a comprehensive bio-security plan is in place and will be implemented during the tour for the protection of players and staff of the two teams and the match officials.”

Australia in Bangladesh T20Is

• First T20I: August 3

• Second T20I: August 4

• Third T20I: August 6

• Fourth T20I: August 7

• Fifth T20I: August 9

BCB and Cricket Australia (CA) have reportedly agreed on extensive pandemic protocols that include a 10-day quarantine, which began earlier this week. Both teams will count their current bio-bubble measures on their respective tours as part of the quarantine. Match officials have already been isolated while the Bangladesh T20I team currently in Zimbabwe will go straight to the team hotel in Dhaka upon arrival. Bangladesh’s T20I series against Zimbabwe was also brought forward by a couple of days.The major protocols for this tour include Australia’s immigration process conducted separately after CA expressed reservations about exposing their touring party in a hall room inside the airport. After they go through the VIP entry and into the team bus, their passports will be processed separately.The team hotel will be completely off-limits to the public during the tour, which is reportedly a tighter plan than the BCB’s bio-bubbles for West Indies and Sri Lanka earlier this year. The scheduling of the series has been at the CA’s request: to be held at one venue over a short window.”We would like to thank our friends at the Bangladesh Cricket Board for developing a detailed bio-security plan to keep players, staff and match officials safe,” Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley said. “Both boards have worked extremely hard to do all we can to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved in the tour.”We are looking forward to a competitive and entertaining series in Dhaka as both teams continue their preparations for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup later this year.”Bangladesh, in the midst of a second wave of Covid-19, reported 173 deaths on Wednesday, taking the tally to 18,498 since March this year, according to the Directorate General of Health Services. According to the official data, the Covid-19 fatality rate in Bangladesh is now 1.63 percent and the current recovery rate is 84.56 percent. Bangladesh has been on strict lockdown since July 1. Although the government allowed a temporary easing of restrictions from July 15 to 22, the initial lockdown conditions are expected to return to force from July 23 till August 5.Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood said on Thursday that the team is familiar with the limitations of movement on tours.”We’ve had a few meetings about what it’s going to look like in Bangladesh and it’s obviously going to be quite tight restrictions and within the bubble,” Hazlewood said. “I think it’s purely going to be either at the hotel or at the cricket ground, which we’ve done before and we’re used to. It’s quite a short trip as well, which is good, so I think it’ll be no dramas, we’ll get that done on the back end of this tour.”This is Australia’s first tour to Bangladesh since their 2017 visit to play two Tests in Dhaka and Chattogram. They had cancelled their 2015 and 2016 (Under-19 World Cup) visits due to security concerns.

Mumbai Indians have started the WPL with a bang, while Royal Challengers will need to bounce back after a heavy defeat in their first game

S Sudarshanan06-Mar-2023

Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (or Harmanpreet Kaur vs Smriti Mandhana)

After locking in Smriti Mandhana in the WPL auction, Royal Challengers Bangalore also bid for India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who eventually went to Mumbai Indians.At a press conference, Mandhana was asked about face-offs with Harmanpreet, and she said, “We haven’t played a lot of domestic cricket in the last four-five years and so didn’t get opportunities to share our experiences with the domestic players. We have played the overseas leagues and know how the setup benefits. So I am sure I can help the RCB girls and she can help the MI girls.”And so, the seeds of some friendly WPL fire were sowed – Harmanpreet versus Mandhana.Related

• Opening act: Blue is the warmest colour as Harmanpreet, Mumbai carry WPL torch

• Stats – Harris and Ecclestone rewrite record books at the close

Royal Challengers are coming off a hammering against Delhi Capitals. Barring quick bowler Renuka Singh and left-arm spinner Preeti Bose, the other Royal Challengers bowlers had economy rates in excess of nine. Do they shuffle things up after one loss? Dane van Niekerk was on the bench and is eager to return to action. Although getting her to replace one of the four overseas players in the XI after just one outing might be rough. If at all, it could be Sophie Devine making way, which would then allow opening batter Disha Kasat to go up to her preferred spot at the top.Harmanpreet’s side, meanwhile, lit up the opening day of the WPL and showed what a side filled with allrounders could do. They were loaded with batting firepower till at least No. 9 and were not needed to tap into the full complement of their resources. It also allowed Harmanpreet to go through the bowling options at her disposal and she used seven out of the ten that could bowl on the day.A tough assignment then for Royal Challengers, as they look to turn around their campaign.

Players to watch

Disha Kasat batted at No. 4 in the opening game for Royal Challengers, but scored all of her chart-topping 300 runs at the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy at the top of the order at a strike rate of 114.50. Richa Ghosh had a quiet start to the competition but she showed what she could do at the smallish Brabourne Stadium against Australia late last year.Having her batting services largely under-utilised for India, Pooja Vastrakar came in at No. 6 and showed her wares with an eight-ball 15. She could have a larger role to play for Mumbai Indians given she is one of the experienced players in the set-up. And don’t be surprised if allrounder Jintimani Kalita is given more to do in her second outing as teams can afford to try the domestic players before the actual crunch games kick in. Kalita impressed with her athletic efforts and caught Harmanpreet’s eye at Mumbai Indians’ two intra-squad warm-up games.

Likely XIs

Mumbai Indians (possible): 1 Yastika Bhatia (wk), 2 Hayley Matthews, 3 Nat Sciver-Brunt, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Amelia Kerr, 6 Humaira Kazi, 7 Pooja Vastrakar, 8 Issy Wong, 9 Amanjot Kaur, 10 Jintimani Kalita, 11 Saika Ishaque
Royal Challengers Bangalore (possible): 1 Smriti Mandhana (capt), 2 Disha Kasat, 3 Ellyse Perry, 4 Sophie Devine/Dane van Niekerk, 5 Richa Ghosh (wk), 6 Heather Knight, 7 Kanika Ahuja/Shreyanka Patil, 8 Asha Sobhana, 9 Megan Schutt, 10 Renuka Singh, 11 Preeti Bose

Quotes

“When I am in my zone, I am clear in the areas I have to pick, and it becomes easy for me. I need to just watch the ball and react instead of thinking about too many shots.”
“Obviously it [Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers] is a huge rivalry in the men’s game. They have set a brilliant win in their first game; they are a dangerous side.”