Vadodara, Jan 20 (LatestNewsX) Three-time finalists Delhi Capitals won the toss and elected to field against defending champion Mumbai Indians in the 13th match of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026 at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara on Tuesday.
While the Mumbai Indians have made several changes to their playing XI, the Delhi Capitals have only made one adjustment. They handed a debut to 16-year-old Deeya Yadav in place of Mennu Mani. G Kamalini has been ruled out of the tournament after picking up an injury, with Vaishnavi Sharma coming in as her replacement. The left-arm spinner will make her debut today. Hayley Matthews also returns to the squad, with the conditions expected to suit her style of play.
Delhi Capitals Women captain Jemimah Rodrigues said, “We would like to bowl first. Under the lights, the ball skids on, and the bounce is a little bit low. Playing through the line will work well on this pitch. As bowlers, we will need to keep it at the stumps. We know we need to win, but our focus is on the process. If we take care of it, the rest will fall in place. Diya comes in place of Meenu Mani. She is 16, yet she can smack the ball out of the park.”
Mumbai Indians captain Harmanpreet Kaur said, “Yeah, looking at the conditions today, bowling first was definitely the better option. The pitch and the atmosphere suggested that we could get more assistance early on, so we were happy with that call. Obviously, coming off two losses in a row hasn’t been easy, but we’ve tried to stay together as a group. Over the last couple of days, we sat down, had some honest and constructive conversations, and refocused as a team. I feel in the last two games we didn’t quite play our best cricket, so today the aim is to stay positive, play with clarity, and put in a complete performance.
“We do have a few team changes today. Unfortunately, Kamalini has been ruled out of the tournament due to injury, so we’ve brought in Vaishnavi Sharma in her place. She’s a left-arm spinner, and she’s making her debut today, which is really exciting for her and for the team. Also, Hayley is back in the squad, and looking at the conditions, we felt this surface would suit her game really well. Apart from that, Poonam isn’t playing today – that’s the other change,” she added.
Playing XIs:
Mumbai Indians Women: Hayley Kristen Matthews, Sajeevan Sajana, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Rahila Firdous (wk), Nicola Carey, Amanjot Kaur, Poonam Khemnar, Sanskriti Gupta, Shabnim Ismail, Vaishnavi Sharma
Delhi Capitals Women: Shafali Verma, Lizelle Lee (wk), Laura Wolvaardt, Jemimah Rodrigues (c), Deeya Yadav, Marizanne Kapp, Lucy Hamilton, Niki Prasad, Sneh Rana, Shree Charani, Nandani Sharma
hs/bsk/
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