Women's Premier League Winners List Till 2024
Only two seasons of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) have taken place so far. WPL 2023 was won by Mumbai Indians, while WPL 2024 was won by Royal Challengers Bangalore.
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The establishment of an Indian Premier League for women had been a topic of considerable discussion and anticipation for several years. The primary argument for launching a WPL had been the potential it holds to significantly enhance the quality and competitiveness of women's cricket in India, similar to the impact the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) has had on Australian cricket. After several years of planning, a women's IPL finally came into existence in the year 2023.
Women's IPL - a brief history
The first major women's Twenty20 competition in India was the Women's T20 Challenge, which began as a single-match tournament in 2018. It expanded to a three-team, three-match format in 2019, continuing this structure in 2020 and 2022.
In February 2022, then BCCI President Sourav Ganguly announced plans to establish a women's version of the Indian Premier League, to replace the Women's T20 Challenge.
On January 28, 2023, the BCCI invited bids for the title sponsorship rights of the league until 2027. Tata Group won the bid for an undisclosed amount. The Mumbai Indians emerged as the inaugural winners of the tournament, defeating the Delhi Capitals in the final.
Women's IPL Winners List
Season | Winner | Winning Margin | Runner-up | Final Venue | Player of the Match | Player of the Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | Mumbai Indians | 134/3 (19.3 overs) Indians won by 7 wickets | Delhi Capitals | Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai | Nat Sciver-Brunt (MI) | Hayley Matthews (MI) |
2024 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 115/2 (19.3 overs) Royal Challengers won by 8 wickets | Delhi Capitals | Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium, New Delhi | Sophie Molineux (RCB) | Deepti Sharma (UPW) |
WPL 2023
The 2023 Women's Premier League, the inaugural season of the league, was played between five teams from 4 March to 26 March 2023. A total of 23 matches were played in the group stage, followed by the Eliminator and the Final.
In the Eliminator, Mumbai Indians defeated UP Warriorz by 72 runs to make it to the final. Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals made it to the final without playing any knockout game, because they topped the points table at the end of the league stage.
In the final, Mumbai Indians defeated Delhi Capitals at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai to win the title. The Delhi Capitals, led by Meg Lanning, won the toss and elected to bat first. They struggled initially, losing Shafali Verma for 12 runs, followed by Alice Capsey who got out for a duck. Lanning, meanwhile, was run out on 35. However, Radha Yadav's 27 runs off 12 balls helped Delhi reach 131 runs.
In reply, Mumbai Indians were at 23 for two when captain Harmanpreet Kaur and batter Nat Sciver-Brunt steadied the innings, scoring 37 off 39 balls and 60 off 55 balls respectively. Their knocks eventually guided Mumbai to victory in 19.3 overs.
Nat Sciver-Brunt was named Player of the Match for her crucial knock in the final, while Hayley Matthews was awarded Player of the Series for taking 16 wickets and scoring 271 runs. She also took home the Purple Cap for picking up the most wickets, while the Orange Cap went to Meg Lanning, who scored 345 runs in nine innings. Yastika Bhatia was named the Emerging Player of the Season.
Sophie Devine of RCB recorded the highest individual score with a blistering 99 off 36 balls against Gujarat Giants. Tahlia McGrath of UP Warriorz notched the most fifties, accumulating four half-centuries throughout the tournament. Sophia Dunkley of Gujarat Giants hit the fastest fifty, reaching the milestone in just 18 balls against RCB. Shafali Verma (Delhi Capitals) and Sophie Devine (RCB) tied for the most sixes in the tournament, each hitting 13 sixes in nine and eight innings respectively.
Marizanne Kapp of Delhi Capitals achieved the best bowling figures in an innings with five for 15 in four overs against Gujarat Giants. The highest team total was 223/2 by Delhi Capitals against RCB, while the lowest total was Gujarat Giants being all out for 64 against Mumbai Indians.
WPL 2024
The 2024 Women's Premier League was the second season the league. Played between the same five teams which played in the inaugural season, WPL 2 was held from 23 February to 17 March 2024. RCB defeated Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator to set up a clash against Delhi Capitals in the final.
RCB, under the captaincy of Smriti Mandhana, defeated the Delhi Capitals by eight wickets in the final at the Arun Jaitley Stadium to clinch their first title across both men's and women's IPL.
Image Credits: @mufaddal_vohra (X Account)
Opting to bat first, Delhi Capitals struggled against RCB’s bowling attack and were bundled out for a modest total of 113 runs, with Shafali Verma being the lone warrior, top-scoring with 44 runs. Shreyanka Patil emerged as the standout bowler, claiming a crucial four-wicket haul, while Sophie Molineux chipped in with three wickets.
In the second innings, RCB chased down the target in 19.3 overs, with Mandhana, Sophie Devine, and Ellyse Perry each contributing scores in the 30s.
Molineux was declared the Player of the Final for her superb bowling spell, taking three wickets while conceding just 20 runs in her four overs.
Ellyse Perry of RCB won the Orange Cap in the 2024 WPL as the leading run-scorer, amassing 341 runs across nine matches. Shreyanka Patil of RCB secured the Purple Cap, claiming the highest number of wickets in the tournament.
Deepti Sharma of RCB won the MVP award for her all-round performance, scoring 295 runs at an average of 98.33 and taking 10 wickets at an average of 21.70.
Shafali Verma of the Delhi Capitals hit the most sixes in the tournament, smashing an impressive 20 sixes in nine matches.
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Umaima Saeed is a professional sports writer whose articles have been featured in several leading websites. She writes long-form content on sports, particularly cricket. She has a penchant for telling human-interest stories. Umaima has contributed articles on cricket to more than a dozen publications, both in print and online.