The inaugural edition of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) organised Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 edition, a women’s equavalent of the men’s Indian Premier League (IPL), to boost the growth of Indian women’s cricket team is now under the books.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) paved the way for the future generations to showcase their talent in-front evryone and stake a claim for a spot in the Indian cricket team. The IPL has played a vital role in development of men’s cricket in India.
The BCCI hopes for the same return as the men’s IPL with the Women’s Premier League (WPL). The first match of the tournament was played between Mumbai Indians and the Gujarat Giants on 4th of March in Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium.
Batting first, Mumbai Indians put on 207 runs on the board with explosive innings from captain Harmanpreet Kaur (65 runs from 30 balls), Hayley Matthews (47 runs) and Amelia Kerr (45 runs).
Chasing the target, Gujarat Giants were knocked-off for just 64 runs, with Mumbai Indians winning the match by 143 runs. With this, the match is in the history books as well as it has many similarities to the 2008 edition of the IPL, the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League, let us have a look at that.
The team batting first scored more than 200 runs, the team batting second scored less than 100
While Mumbai Indians scored 207 runs in their respective 20 overs of play while batting first, Gujarat Giants meanwhile were all-out for 64 runs. The same kind of situation happened way back in the year 2008 as well when Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) scored 222 runs for the loss of 3 wickets, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were all-out for just 82 runs.
The team batting second played exact 15.1 overs before they were all-out
Another huge similarity that might not be noticed by a lot is the fact that the team batting 2nd or chasing the target, played only 15.1 overs before their were all-out. This might have gone unnoticed for a lot of people as it is a small detail to remember.
The highest scorer in the match played with more than 200 strike rate
Another very small similarity between the two matches is that, the player who scored the most runs in the match, had the same strike rate, to be precise, both had the same strike rate. Brendon McCullum, who smashed a big Hundred in the first IPL match, had a strike rate of 216.43 meanwhile Harmanpreet Kaur, who scored 65 runs, had a strike rate of 216.67.
The winning team won the match by 140+ margin
The first of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is remembered because of Brendon McCullum’s explosive Hundred and Kolkata Knight Riders’ big win by 140 runs margin. The same history was repeated in Mumbai as well as the Mumbai Indians won the match by 143 runs.