"First year, first love and first trophy remain close to your heart" - Aakash Chopra on Mumbai Indians becoming WPL 2023 champions

Aakash Chopra has highlighted that the Mumbai Indians (MI) lifting the trophy in the first season of the Women's Premier League will always be a memorable occasion for the franchise.

Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. defeated the Delhi Capitals (DC) by seven wickets in the title decider at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday (March 26). They first restricted Meg Lanning's side to 131/9 and chased down the target with three deliveries to spare.

On the "AakashVani" show on JioCinema, Chopra lauded the Mumbai Indians for bagging the WPL 2023 trophy, saying:

"The Mumbai Indians have won the first WPL. They started the tournament by winning five consecutive games and have also ended it with a win. What a team, what a performance. First year, first love and first trophy remain close to your heart."

Reflecting on the final, the former Indian opener pointed out that MI were slightly fortunate to pick up the first three DC wickets, explaining:

"Why did I do the pitch report? Three players got dismissed off full tosses. Isabelle Wong dismissed Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey and Jemimah Rodrigues - three full tosses and I was saying that the ball will spin."

While praising Hayley Matthews (3/5) and Amelia Kerr (2/18) for bowling penetrative spells for the Mumbai Indians, Chopra appreciated Radha Yadav and Shikha Pandey for taking the Delhi Capitals to a fighting total, elaborating:

"It did spin. Hayley Matthews picked up three wickets while conceding only five runs in four overs. Amelia Kerr also picked up two wickets. It seemed at one stage that this team would not even score 90 but then Radha Yadav and Shikha Pandey had a very good partnership."

How about that for a spell in the #Final 😎

#TATAWPL | #DCvMI

Relive @MyNameIs_Hayley's economical three-wicket haul 🎥🔽

wplt20.com/videos/matthew… https://t.co/CPE2pLjCqL

The Delhi Capitals were reduced to 79/9 at the end of the 16th over when Taniya Bhatia was dismissed. Radha (27* off12) and Shikha (27* off 17) then strung together an unbroken 52-run 10th-wicket partnership in just four overs to take them to a fighting total.

"She was brilliant" - Aakash Chopra lauds Nat Sciver-Brunt's knock for the Mumbai Indians

Nat Sciver-Brunt played a responsible knock during MI's chase. [P/C: WPL/Twitter]

Speaking about the Mumbai Indians chase, Aakash Chopra lauded Nat Sciver-Brunt for bailing them out of trouble, observing:

"Yastika Bhatia got out to a full toss at the start. Then Hayley Matthews got out. Suddenly there was a cat among the pigeons. But then comes Nat Sciver-Brunt. She was brilliant. The player of the tournament and most valuable player in my opinion - runs in both the Eliminator and the final."

The reputed commentator also praised Harmanpreet Kaur and Amelia Kerr for playing the supporting act to perfection, stating:

"She scored attacking runs in the Eliminator and cautious runs in the final - match-winning runs in both games. Along with her Harmanpreet Kaur, she would have finished the match had she not got run out. But if she gets out, Amelia Kerr comes. When she comes, she does something. She is outstanding."

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜!😉

Celebrations all around in @mipaltan's camp!

#TATAWPL | #DCvMI | #Final https://t.co/NkAazojfbQ

Sciver-Brunt was awarded the Player of the Match for her unbeaten 60 off 55 balls. While Harmanpreet scored a 39-ball 37, Kerr played an unbeaten 14-run cameo off just eight balls.