MI vs DC WPL 2025: Head-to-head record, important stats, and all you need to know

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The inaugural edition's winner Mumbai Indians will bank on their core group of players while two-time finalists Delhi Capitals will expect fireworks from Shafali Verma when they face-off in the second game of the Women's Premier League on Saturday.

The finalists of the first WPL in 2023, both Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals made it to the knockouts in the second edition last year but lost to the eventual champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the eliminator and the final respectively.

Those defeats were certainly not reflective of how well MI and DC had fared until the knockouts stage, with Harmanpreet Kaur's side finishing second in the points table with five wins in eight matches and Meg Lanning's team topping it with six wins in as many outings.

The winners of WPL 2023, Mumbai Indians tend to lean on their core group of players - both overseas and Indian - and a similar approach can be expected this year, with only a few changes taking place in terms of squad composition.

India pacer Pooja Vastrakar, who was grappling with an unspecified injury, was ruled out of the competition and has been replaced by slow left-arm orthodox bowler Parunika Sisodia, who was one of the main performers in India's title-winning campaign in the U-19 Women's T20 World Cup recently.

Mumbai Indians have let go of England's Issy Wong, who took the first-ever WPL hat-trick in 2023, after the player lost form and the franchise found the leader of their attack in South Africa's Shabnim Ismail.

Among domestic talents, another member of the U-19 T20 World Cup winning squad G Kamalini would be one to watch out for, having finished as the third highest scorer in the competition with 143 runs in seven matches.

Apart from a strong leader in Harmanpreet, MI have strong figures from other international sides such as Nat Sciver-Brunt (England), Hayley Matthews (West Indies), Amelia Kerr (New Zealand), as well as South Africans Nadine de Klerk, Shabnim Ismail and Chloe Tryon.

While Yastika Bhatia is MI's No 1 wicketkeeper-batter, other Indian players in Saika Ishaque, Sajana Sajeevan, uncapped Akshita Maheshwari and Amanjot Kaur will be expected to play their roles to perfection.

MI vs DC Head-to-head records: Last five encounters

Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals have faced off five times in the Women's Premier League (WPL), with Mumbai holding a slight edge in their head-to-head record. Out of these encounters, Mumbai Indians have emerged victorious three times, while Delhi Capitals have claimed two wins.

During the inaugural WPL season in 2024, the two teams clashed thrice, including the grand finale. Mumbai dominated their first meeting, bowling out Delhi for a mere 105 runs before securing an emphatic eight-wicket victory. However, Delhi bounced back in their second encounter, chasing down a modest target of 110 runs with nine wickets in hand. The highly anticipated final saw Mumbai Indians rise to the occasion, defeating Delhi by seven wickets to be crowned the first-ever WPL champions.

Squads

Mumbai Indians: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Akshita Maheshwari, Amandeep Kaur, Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Chloe Tryon, Hayley Matthews, Jintimani Kalita, Keerthana Balakrishnan, Nadine de Klerk, Natalie Sciver-Brunt, Parunika Sisodia, Sajeevan Sajana, Sanskriti Gupta, G Kamalini (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Saika Ishaque, Shabnim Ismail.

Delhi Capitals: Meg Lanning (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Sneh Deepthi, Alice Capsey, Annabel Sutherland, Arundhati Reddy, Jess Jonassen, Marizanne Kapp, Minnu Mani, N Charani, Niki Prasad, Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Nandini Kashyap (wk), Taniyaa Bhatia (wk), Sarah Bryce (wk), Titas Sadhu.