A compilation of the best-performing players of the second edition of WPL that concluded on Sunday
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The second edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) concluded on March 18 with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) pipping Delhi Capitals to win the title. The match went to the wire but Smriti Madhana-led RCB held their nerves to finally cross the line with three balls to spare. Delhi Capitals, despite topping the group stage with six wins in eight games, lost their second consecutive final.
The 23-day-long tournament saw some sparkling performances from across the five teams. Several players, especially from the two finalist teams, produced magical performances throughout the tournament to give fans a thrilling experience. In this piece, we put together the best-performing XI players of the WPL 2024.
In the next match, she went a step ahead by scoring 74 off 43 balls against Delhi Capitals. This knock gave her a lot of confidence despite RCB falling short to win the game. She was finally playing the fearless cricket that she is known for. Her best knock of the tournament came against UP Warriorz a couple of matches later, where she struck 80 off 50. Mandhana was also instrumental as the captain of RCB and played a vital role in helping them win their maiden WPL trophy.
She struck a 27-ball 44-run cameo in the finals as well, which was the only bright spot in Delhi’s innings. The 20-year-old also hit the most number of sixes in the tournament– 20 in seven matches.
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She also picked up seven wickets in the tournament, out of which six came in one match, where she single-handedly rattled a strong Mumbai Indians batting line-up. Even in the finals, Perry held one side and made unbeaten 37 runs to ensure RCB gets home with eight wickets in hand.
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The right-handed batter scored three consecutive fifties in the last three matches of UP but due to less support from other players, she couldn’t take her team to the playoffs. Sharma’s best knock came against Gujarat Giants, where she struck an unbeaten knock of 88 runs in 60 balls.
She hit two fifties in the tournament studded by 26 fours and eight sixes. Her 33-ball 69-run knock against Mumbai Indians, where she tore off a strong Mumbai attack, was one of the highlights of the tournament. She was electrifying on the field as well, taking a few really good catches.
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She was also quite active behind the stumps—taking care of most of the catches and stumping. She even scored the winning runs for RCB in the final. With three needed off four balls, she nonchalantly hit a four to take her team home. She returned making unbeaten 17 runs in 14 balls.
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Kapp scalped 11 wickets in 7 matches at an economy of 6.28, ending as the fourth-highest wicket-taker in WPL 2024. Her spell of 4-1-5-3 against UP Warriorz at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru was one of the best spells of the tournament. She was absolutely unplayable in that match. She also bowled a tight spell in the final (4-0-20-0) but it wasn’t enough at the end as her team failed to defend the small total.
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The spinner picked up 13 wickets in eight matches at an economy of 7.30. She produced a magical performance with the ball in the final as well, taking four wickets by giving away just 12 runs in her four overs. The best thing about her bowling this season was the variety in pace and length. She did not hesitate to give the ball the air, which became a wicket-taking weapon for her.
She started the tournament on a dream note, taking five wickets by conceding just 22 runs in the first match against UP Warriorz. The leg-spinner although didn’t take these many wickets in the rest of the matches, she ensured to keep it tight and make it easy for other bowlers as well. Her spell of 2-14 in the final helped RCB bundle Delhi for a meagre total of 113 runs.
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Jonassen contributed with the bat as well in a couple of matches. Her best performance came in the first match against RCB, where she took three wickets and scored unbeaten 36 runs in 16 balls. The Aussie bowled a tight spell (0/15) in the final as well.
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The highlight of her bowling was the speeds she bowled at. She even became the fastest bowler in women’s cricket by clocking 132.1 kilometres per hour (82.1 mph) against Delhi Capitals at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi.
Honourable Mentions: Meg Lanning (Delhi Capitals), Nat Sciver-Brunt (Mumbai Indians), Sophie Ecclestone (UP Warriorz), Sophie Molineux (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Beth Mooney (Gujarat Giants)