Delhi Capitals

Delhi have been one of the consistent sides in the tournament, losing only matches in the league stage. They finished the stage as the table toppers due to superior net run-rate, thus gaining direct entry into the final. Meg is also the leading run-scorer of the tournament till now.

Prithvi Shaw, who has been at the Delhi camp since 2018, may have made headlines more due to off-field incidents than on-field exploits in recent times, but Ponting is hopeful of the right-handed opener having his best IPL season ever this year. Ponting, the two-time ODI World Cup winning captain of Australia, expressed his happiness over Shaw putting in the hard yards during training ahead of the IPL 2023 season, while noting that the right-hander is in great space.

March had recently clinched the Player of the Series award in Australia's 2-1 ODI series win over India, making 194 runs at an average of 97, including two half-centuries coming in as a makeshift opener. He had played a key role in Australia's 2021 T20 World Cup triumph as a number three batter and Ponting expects him to do the same for Delhi, apart from shouldering some bowling duties.

Capsey claimed 3-26 off her four overs as Delhi Capitals restricted UP Warriorz to 138/6 in their 20 overs -- a blazing 32-ball 58 not out from Tahlia McGrath taking UP to where they eventually finished. Capsey came back to contribute with the bat too as she scored 34 off 31 balls after skipper Meg Lanning (39) and Shafali Verma (21) had raised 56 runs for the first wicket in the Power-play.

Barring a 37-run partnership off 29 balls between captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Pooja Vastrakar, there wasn't much of note from Mumbai's batting. In reply, powerful 30s from Meg Lanning, Shafali Verma and Alice Capsey helped Delhi complete the chase in just nine overs.

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.

"Our performance in our last game against Gujarat Giants showed that DC doesn't give up easily. It was a great effort from our team to get close to our target. And if we bring our A game then no team can beat us," the pacer Shikha Pandey said in a media release issued by the franchise on Sunday.

In a media release issued on Thursday night, the MLC confirmed that the franchise would be called Seattle Orcas. Notably, Orcas, a killer whale native to the ocean waters around Seattle, is considered a symbol of power and strength. Other than Nadella and GMR, the other investors in the Orcas franchise comprise Soma Somasegar (managing director of Madrona Ventures), Samir Bodas (co-founder and CEO, Icertis), Ashok Krishnamurthi (managing partner, GreatPoint Ventures) and Sanjay Parthasarathy (former senior executive at Microsoft and Avalara).

But Arundhati Reddy gave Gujarat an almighty scare with her 17-ball 25 and shared a partnership of 35 off 21 balls with Shikha Pandey. But with her falling in the 18th over meant Gujarat eventually finished on the right side of the result and pushed Royal Challengers Bangalore to the bottom of the points table.

While Laura took time before opening up to make 57 off 45 balls, Ashleigh was aggressive from the word go to be unbeaten on 51 off 33 balls. While getting their respective first fifties of the competition, Laura and Ashleigh were involved in a crucial 81-run partnership off 53 balls for the third wicket.