Mumbai Indians Vs Delhi Capitals, WPL 2024: Sajeevan Sajana's Last Ball Six Helps MI Win By 4 Wickets - As It Happened

The stage is set. All is in readiness for the start of the second season of the Women's Premier League. Hours after the Indian men's team battled it out with a resistant Joe Root and Co in Ranchi, the cricketing action shifts to Bengaluru, where a galaxy of international and domestic stars have descended for the season-opener between title holders Mumbai Indians and last year's runners-up Delhi Capitals. Stay tuned for the live scores and updates of all the action from the DC Women vs MI Women, WPL 2024 match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. (Streaming | Full Coverage | Schedule And Points Table)

The opening ceremony of WPL 2024 is about to get underway. Bollywood's iconic superstar Shah Rukh Khan is in Bengaluru to dazzle all and sundry with his performance. On the eve of the game, he met both teams. Here is a video of the interaction.

Other actors who will perform at the ceremony include Kartik Aaryan, Varun Dhawan, Shahid Kapoor and Tiger Shroff.

Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan performed with the captains of WPL 2024 teams - Alyssa Healy, Meg Lanning, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Beth Mooney. In the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, BCCI dignitaries also joined these stars on stage and ended the opening ceremony. Shahid Kapoor, Tiger Shroff, Varun Dhawan, Siddharth Malhotra and Kartik Aaryan gave their respective performances as well.

The WPL 20-24 opening ceremony just ended on a high note and now the focus will be on the toss for the first match of the season. Both the captains - Harmanpreet Kaur for Mumbai Indians and Meg Lanning for Delhi Capitals are on the ground.

Mumbai Indians Women have won the toss and have opted to field

Teams:

Mumbai Indians Women (Playing XI): Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Yastika Bhatia(w), Amelia Kerr, Amanjot Kaur, S Sajana, Pooja Vastrakar, Shabnim Ismail, Keerthana Balakrishnan, Saika Ishaque

Delhi Capitals Women (Playing XI): Shafali Verma, Meg Lanning(c), Alice Capsey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Annabel Sutherland, Arundhati Reddy, Minnu Mani, Taniya Bhatia(w), Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey

Harmanpreet Kaur | MI Captain: We'll go first. Due is the only reason we desire to bowl first. We have a balanced team, with three debutants. Looking good. The message is the same: we want to keep things simple and stick to our goals.

Meg Lanning | DC Captain: It appears to be an excellent wicket with lots of potential for runs. Mumbai is a strong team that looks forward to the challenge. I'm definitely looking forward to this competition. Preparations have gone well, and the squad is settled; all that remains is for them to play freely. We're going with four seamers and three spinners, which provides some excellent alternatives throughout the innings. Harmanpreet, a competitor, is looking forward to the game.

The dimensions are short. 50m boundary on the leg side, 60 m on the off side. The pitch is hard and looks like a batting wicket. No grass on it. Batting first could be ideal but dew is expected to play a role as well.

Captain Meg Lanning along with star batter Shafali Verma opened the batting for Delhi Capitals. Shabnim Ismail delivered a brilliant first over conceding just one run off it. DC are off the mark.

DCW - 1/0 (1)

Shabnim Ismail continued her attack and bowled Shafali Verma on the first delivery of her second over. Verma misjudged the line and the ball hit the middle stump as DCW lost their main batter very early in the game.

DCW - 6/1 (3)

DCW managed to extract 10 runs in the first over of Nat Sciver-Brunt but Ismail and Ishaque's next two overs put the DCW on the back foot again. Only 26 runs were conceded by MIW in the first powerplay and they also removed the dangerous Shafali Verma early.

DCW - 26/1 (6)

Amelia Kerr came to bowl her second over and was welcomed by Lanning with a massive six. Capsey then hit another boundary on the fourth delivery. She conceded 12 runs from her second over.

DCW - 63/1 (9)

Full and wide outside off delivery and Lanning attempts to slice it away but is outfoxed by the additional carry. Off the splice towards the backward point, the fielder completes a simple catch.

DCW - 70/2 (11)

English teenager Alice Capsey targetted Hayley Matthews and smashed two sixes and one four to complete his fifty in the twelfth over of the inning.

DCW - 89/2 (12)

Amelia Kerr dismissed Alice Capsey and provided a crucial breakthrough to Mumbai Indians. Capsey was trying to hit every other delivery. She tried to play a reverse sweep against Kerr's delivery that remained low and hit her pads.

DCW - 147/3 (18)

Amelia Kerr has hit three boundaries in the last over of the innings to take the score past 170. Now Harmanpreet Kaur's Mumbai Indians need 172 runs to win this match.

DCW - 171/5 (20)

Brief Score: DCW - 171/5 (20)

Alice Capsey - 75 (53), Jemimah Rodrigues - 42 (24) | Nat Sciver Brunt: (4-0-33-2)

Yastika Bhatia and Hayley Matthews opened the batting for Mumbai with Marizanne Kapp opening the bowling attack. The first delivery conceded no run but the second delivery took an edge of Matthews' bat and went directly to the keeper's hands. Nat Sciver-Brunt replaced her at the crease. DCW also lost a review in the first over. A wicket-maiden for Kapp and DCW.

MIW - 0/1 (1)

Yastika Bhatia hits back-to-back fours against Annabel Sutherland to extract 10 runs from her first over. Sutherland got the highest bid in the WPL auctions in December for a foreign player.

MIW - 36/1 (5)

Nat Sciver-Brunt is nutmegged as she looks to flick, and the ball hits the middle and leg. Arundhati Reddy is ecstatic and lets her feelings out.

MIW - 55/2 (7)

Yastika Bhatia completed her half-century in style. She hit a six off Radha Yadav to reach the milestone. MIW still need 82 runs in 9 overs to win this match.

MIW - 90/2 (11)

A good catch at deep mid-wicket, just at the rope edge. Yastika pulls flat and hard on a slower ball off-cutter outside, and Kapp makes no mistakes. Following that wicket, Delhi leads.

MIW - 108/3 (14)

Harmanpreet Kaur hit a boundary on the last delivery off Sutherland to make the equation 12 runs in 6 balls. Vastrakar will be on strike.

MIW - 160/4 (19)

With 12 runs needed off the last six balls, Vastrakar was caught out on the first delivery. Amanjot Kaur came and took a double then a single. Harmanpreet hit a four to make the equation five needed off 2 deliveries. MI captain lost her wicket on the second delivery and then came Sajeevan Sajana. She smashed a six to win the match for Mumbai Indians in Bengaluru. Crazy finish!

MIW - 173/6 (20)

Brief Score: MIW - 173/6 (20)

Yastika Bhatia - 57 (45), Harmanpreet Kaur - 55 (34) | Arundhati Reddy: (4-0-27-2)

Brief Score: DCW - 171/5 (20)

Alice Capsey - 75 (53), Jemimah Rodrigues - 42 (24) | Nat Sciver Brunt: (4-0-33-2)

It was slipping on, so Mumbai bowled a tight length and kept it tight. Overall, it was a terrific day for bowlers; Mumbai bowled effectively early on, which likely contributed to their success. We believed we were in the game, and we would have welcomed a couple more. We pushed hard to make it to the final ball, but it was not to be. For the most part, we did well, but the short side with Yastika as the left-hander complicated matters. It was a terrific effort for the first game, especially given we only had one week. We almost managed to sneak in at the last. We were in the game when we got Kaur out, but coming out and hitting a six on the first ball is quite fantastic. [On Capsey for the last over] The objective was to spear the ball to the right-handed hitters and encourage them to hit to the longer side.

We were pleased with how things turned out. I'm really pleased with how we played. I want to pay gratitude to my batting coach, Himanshu Bhaiya. I lacked confidence following my trip to Australia, but he instilled it. I wasn't playing domestic cricket and wasn't feeling well. That break was beneficial to my mental health. The wicket looked good when batting, and we believed that if we went deep, we could win. [About Sanjana] She was hitting sixes throughout practice, and she showed us tonight. We wanted to kill the game in the first three balls, but we knew we have depth in our batting, which is why I'm standing here thanks to Sanjana. It makes no difference whether you bat first or second; only the conditions do, and we adapt accordingly.

The opening match of the second season for WPL has been very exciting. More action unfolds tomorrow. Join us tomorrow. Until then, it's farewell from our side. Goodnight!