New Delhi, March 5 Captain Harmanpreet Kaur and fast-bowler Shabnim Ismail returned for the Mumbai Indians as the defending champions won the toss and elected to bowl first against Delhi Capitals in Match 12 of the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2024 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Tuesday.
Harmanpreet sat out of Mumbai’s last two matches due to a niggle, so had Shabnim. But the duo now come into the playing eleven in place of Issy Wong and Keerthana Balakrishnan. “Don't have experience of this pitch, so bowling first is the better option. I'm feeling good, nice to be back, new day and looking forward to it.”
“We're doing a great job and we want to continue. Hopeful of getting good support from the crowd,” said Harmanpreet after winning the toss in the top-of-the-table clash to kick off the Delhi leg of WPL 2024.
On the other hand, Delhi are playing a home match in the WPL for the first time. They have fast-bowling all-rounder Marizanne Kapp coming back in for Annabel Sutherland.
“It's a nice venue to play. We have got the squad to handle any conditions. We have got better with each game, different players standing up at different times, it's important to keep winning though,” said skipper Meg Lanning.
Mumbai have a 3-1 head-to-head record against Delhi in WPL clashes. The pitch for Tuesday’s match is number three at the venue, which means the leg-side boundary is short as compared to the off-side. The winner of this match will take a step closer to entering the playoffs of WPL 2024.
Playing XIs:
Delhi Capitals: Meg Lanning (captain), Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Shikha Pandey and Titas Sadhu
Mumbai Indians: Yastika Bhatia (wk), Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Amelia Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar, Amanjot Kaur, Sajeevan Sajana, Humairaa Kaazi, Shabnim Ismail and Saika Ishaque
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