Delhi Capitals skipper Meg Lanning has won the toss and elected to bowl first against Mumbai Indians in match 18 of the Women's Premier League at the DY Patil Stadium on Monday.
It is a clash between the top two teams of the competition who have already made it to the playoffs, with UP Warriorz joining them earlier in the day. But the race for the top spot and getting a direct entry into the final is still active, while the second-placed team will go into the eliminator against the third-ranked side.
Mumbai, the current table-toppers, are coming off their first loss of the competition in their previous match against the Warriorz, while Delhi come in after losing to the Gujarat Giants by 11 runs.
"No real reason (for bowling first). Just going to see how it goes. Same team, the same combination as the previous game. The idea is to keep it as simple as we can, be consistent and hopefully get the job done," said Meg after winning the toss.
Also read | WPL 2023: Hemalatha, Gardner fifties power Gujarat Giants to 178/6 against UP Warriorz
Mumbai captain Harmanpreet Kaur said fast-bowling all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar comes into the playing eleven in place of Dhara Gujjar. "Toss is not in my control, you have to accept whatever."
"We are a very balanced side, so no complaints in terms of batting or bowling first. In the last game, batting is something we want to show more responsibility with. We are fairly confident and have a balanced side, we just need to execute the plans.""
Playing XIs:
Delhi Capitals: Shafali Verma, Meg Lanning (captain), Marizanne Kapp, Jemimah Rodrigues, Alice Capsey, Jess Jonassen, Taniyaa Bhatia (wicketkeeper), Arundhati Reddy, Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav and Poonam Yadav
Also read | WPL 2023: Gujarat Giants win toss, opt to bat first against unchanged UP Warriorz
Mumbai Indians: Yastika Bhatia (wicketkeeper), Hayley Matthews, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Amelia Kerr, Amanjot Kaur, Pooja Vastrakar, Humaira Kazi, Issy Wong, Jintimani Kalita and Saika Ishaque.
