WPL 2023: Rating the Teams’ chances of making the playoffs

We’re at the halfway point of the group stage of the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), and it has been quite a tournament so far.

All sides have played four matches each, with the Mumbai Indians sitting at the top of the points table, with four wins in four. The Delhi Capitals sit third, with their only defeat coming against MI.

We’ve had some terrific individual and team performances so far, with Saika Ishaque, Hayley Matthews, and Meg Lanning being the best of the bowlers, all-rounders, and batters, respectively.

Soon, we’ll reach the business end of the season, and the teams will already have started thinking about playoff qualification scenarios and Net Run Rate.

Since WPL 2023 has five teams, only the top three sides at the end of the 20 group stage matches will qualify for the playoffs. The team at the top of the points table will qualify directly for the final, with the winner of a knockout game between the 2nd and 3rd placed teams will become the second finalist.

Let’s now look at the five teams’ chances of making the playoffs based on their performances up to this point.

#5 Royal Challengers Bangalore – 3/10

It’s been an abject performance from RCB this season, as they’ve lost all four matches they’ve played. They were one of the pre-tournament favorites to make the playoffs, but their weaknesses were ruthlessly exposed. They have been comprehensively beaten in all four games, and their auction strategy under Head Coach Ben Sawyer needs to be questioned.

RCB’s core Indian trio of Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh, and Renuka Singh did look like one of the best before the tournament started. However, neither of the three players has stepped up and delivered, with Renuka struggling to find any swing or purchase on the predominantly batter-friendly wickets.

While captain Smriti Mandhana and the team management have made questionable on-field calls and team selection decisions, their failures can ultimately be attributed to a poor auction. They’ve relied heavily on their overseas all-rounders to cover their weak bowling but didn’t stop to think that Sophie Devine has hardly bowled for her country in quite a while.

Dane van Niekerk, arguably the best bowler among Erin Burns, Ellyse Perry, and Sophie Devine, is yet to get a game, with none of their Indian options barring Shreyanka Patil, impressing with either bat or ball.

RCB needs to win all four of their remaining matches to stay in the hunt for the playoffs but needs other results to go their way, even if they manage to do that. They don’t seem to have the right players in the squad to win consistently and might have to settle for a 5th or 4th placed finish.

#4 Gujarat Giants – 4.5/10

The Gujarat Giants recovered well from a poor start to the season to beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore, but they were blown away by the Delhi Capitals in their most recent game and won only one of their four matches. 

However, had they held their nerve in the final moments against the UP Warriorz, they could be in a better place. To their credit, Head Coach Rachael Haynes and Team Mentor Mithali Raj rallied the team together pretty well after losing skipper Beth Mooney to injury, but the latest defeat must affect their confidence.

Harleen Deol’s impressive and confident outings with the bat have been their biggest positives this season. Meanwhile, Sophia Dunkley came good with the bat against RCB but lost her place to Laura Wolvaardt, a move that looks worse, especially after their poor batting performance against DC.

While GG has what it takes to win matches when they play as a unit, they lack the firepower compared to other sides. Their death bowling also seems to be a real issue for them, with RCB and UPW exploiting that weakness.

GG isn’t out of the hunt to make the playoffs, but it will be a tough ask for them than it is for some other teams.

#3 UP Warriorz – 6.5/10

A batting lineup over-dependent on Alyssa Healy was one of the main issues with the UP Warriorz. However, in the last couple of matches, Healy has come good with the bat, scoring a 47-ball 96 in a dominant win over RCB before a more controlled half-century against MI, albeit in a losing cause.

One of the pre-tournament favorites, given their solid overseas contingent and spin-bowling department, it took a Grace Harris special for them to win their first game of the season against the Gujarat Giants. 

They were blown away by the DC batters in the second match, with their own batting lineup crumbling under pressure, with only Tahlia McGrath standing tall. After smashing RCB in their third match courtesy of a solid bowling effort and an Alyssa Healy special, they failed to control the decisive moments and had some bad luck, losing to the Mumbai Indians.

They have one of the weaker batting lineups in the league and need to figure out the right balance for the side, considering that they’ve been altering between Grace Harris and Shabnim Ismail for the 4th overseas spot.

While they have won and lost two games, the Warriorz should consider themselves closer to DC and MI than the bottom two sides. They came closest to troubling the Mumbai Indians, and on another day, they could be level on points with both those teams. 

While anything could happen from here on in, the Warriorz should make the playoffs rather comfortably.

#2 Delhi Capitals – 8/10

Barring a horrendous batting collapse against the Mumbai Indians that no one saw coming, the Delhi Capitals have delivered on pre-season expectations, registering three resounding wins in four matches. The latest one highlighted their prowess with the ball, with Marizanne Kapp producing an insane spell of bowling, picking up 5/15 in her four overs, absolutely wrecking the GG batting lineup with the new ball.

Shafali Verma made light work of the target of 106 as they chased it down in just 7.1 overs! This level of batting dominance was on show in the first couple of games for DC, as they scored 223/2 and 211/4 in their first two matches, with skipper Meg Lanning in excellent form.

USA seamer Tara Norris, who’s allowed to play as the fifth foreigner in the playing 11, has been an asset with the ball, picking up six wickets, including a five-fer on debut. 

DC is a bit top-heavy in their batting, with the batting depth post-Jess Jonassen definitely questionable. That was exposed when Saika Ishaque and the rest of the MI bowlers put the squeeze on the DC top order. However, that sort of collapse is unlikely to happen again, and with such a dominant top six, they might not even need the likes of Tanya Bhatia to bat.

While they would’ve been at the top of this list had they beat the Mumbai Indians, DC shouldn’t have any trouble making the playoffs. They’re one of the favorites to win this tournament and have the firepower to achieve that goal.

#1 Mumbai Indians – 9.5/10

I would’ve given the Mumbai Indians a 10/10 rating considering they’ve won all four matches so far and haven’t been troubled by any of their opposition.

Three of the players in their team: Humairaa Kazi, Jintimani Kalita, and Amanjot Kaur, have hardly seen any action so far, and it’ll be interesting to see how they perform in a game in which they’re tested. However, it’s not their fault that their top-order and all-rounders have been in impeccable form, winning all the games by themselves.

It’s puzzling how a player of Hayley Matthews’ caliber was unsold in the initial round of the auction and went to MI for her base price. Nat-Sciver Brunt and Amelia Kerr, the other two overseas all-rounders, have also been excellent, with skipper Harmanpreet Kaur closing out a powerful T20 quartet.

Saika Ishaque has been the find of the tournament, with her attacking and direct bowling helping her to twelve wickets in only four matches. It’ll be a huge surprise if she doesn’t get a national call-up immediately after the tournament.

Seamers Issy Wong and Pooja Vastrakar have also done well whenever called on to bowl, with skipper Harmanpreet Kaur having plenty of options to call on.

The game against the UP Warriorz was their most challenging, but they managed to dig themselves out of trouble in both innings. Apart from their excellent roster of players, they also seem to have built a winning belief that champion sides often possess. It’ll take some effort from the other teams to stop MI from making the playoffs!