“They have the best combination in the whole tournament” - Harmanpreet Kaur on Lanning-Shafali threat in WPL 2023 final
Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Harmanpreet Kaur admitted that Delhi Capitals (DC) openers Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma form a threatening combination. She, however, asserted that they have their plans in place for the duo when MI and DC clash in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 final.
Mumbai will take on Delhi in the WPL 2023 final at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday, March 26. When the teams met in the league stage, MI won the first game, while DC took the honors in the second fixture.
While both sides are strong on paper, DC have a slight edge in batting courtesy of their prolific opening combination of skipper Lanning and Shafali. Sharing her views on the threat the duo could pose to Mumbai in the final, Harmanpreet said at a press conference:
“They have the best combination in the whole tournament and they also did well against us in the last game. We know what they can do and how dangerous they can be. We have our plans and hopefully we are able to execute them.”
Mumbai began their WPL 2023 campaign with five straight wins before losing some steam and going down in two matches in a row. They recovered in time to confirm their place in the final. Asserting that the mood in the MI camp is a positive one, Harmanpreet commented:
“We have many leaders in the camp, people who have captained their team and also been vice-captains. Some of the Indian players like Amanjot (Kaur) did well in South Africa. This makes for a great team environment.”
Photoshoots like these 📸📸
What a lovely sight to see the two captains ahead of the #TATAWPL Final 🏆 https://t.co/8MbkTIAcfj
Mumbai thumped UP Warriorz by 72 runs in the Eliminator on Friday to set up the summit clash against Delhi.
“We will start seeing the results in 2-3 years” - Harmanpreet Kaur on WPL 2023 impact
While the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) has played a significant role in the development of Australian cricket, Harmanpreet is confident that the WPL will do the same for Indian players. The 34-year-old stated:
"WBBL played a big role in development of cricket in their country and WPL is also going to have a same role for our cricket. The domestic players are going to get a lot of opportunities, many girls have done well as we have seen.
"We will start seeing the results in 2-3 years. I am confident that Indian talent is also going to do well like Australia are doing.”
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A happy and proud @mipaltan captain acknowledges a magnificent turnout at the DY Patil Stadium in the #Eliminator 👏👏
#TATAWPL | #MIvUPW | @ImHarmanpreet https://t.co/pZH6WScai3
On a personal front, the Mumbai captain has had a mixed WPL 2023 season.
In nine matches, she has scored 244 runs at an average of 40.67 and a strike rate of 144.38. She will be keen to lead from the front in the final.