We are at the halfway point of the group stage and things still look a little murky. The Mumbai Indians Women, Gujarat Giants Women, and UP Warriorz Women are tied on four points, and are jostling for two of the three top places.
They are all playing second fiddle to the runaway leaders, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Women, who are unbeaten in four games are are ensconced at the top with eight points. Bottom-placed Delhi Capitals women have to pull-off a brilliant run of wins if they are to challenge for a spot in the playoffs.
Nerves of steel! 🧊
— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) January 14, 2026
🎥 Laura Wolvaardt sees @DelhiCapitals through in a last-ball thriller 👏#DC get their first win of the campaign 💙
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/4vXszSqbQO #TATAWPL | #KhelEmotionKa | #UPWvDC pic.twitter.com/TdUWbq91K3
MATCH OF THE WEEK: The Delhi Capitals beat the Warriorz by seven wickets in a thriller that went to the last ball. This was the second time in three days that the Capitals found themselves in need of less than 10 runs to win in the final over. They needed seven runs in six balls against the Giants and botched that chance.
Three days later, Laura Wolvaardt found herself in a similar position, this time her side needed six runs in the 20th over. The South Africa Women captain held her nerve and got the Capitals home with a lovely boundary off the last ball.
BATTER: Performance coaches point to resilience as a feature of the world’s greatest athletes. This week, Harleen Deol was the face of resilience. The 27-year-old middle-order batter was retired out by her coaches while she was on 47 from 36 balls.
She must have felt undervalued, especially given that she scored the second-most runs for them and she had the third-highest strike rate. It didn’t help that the Warriorz went on to lose the match. She was back in action 24 hours later and top-scored for the Warriorz with an unbeaten, match-winning 39-ball 64.
BOWLER: Mumbai’s Amelia Kerr took five wickets in three matches to climb to the top of the ladder of this season’s top wicket-takers. Taking ownership of the purple cap is an outstanding feat; however, she did not produce the best performance with the ball last week. That honour goes to RCB’s Shreyanka Patil, who took five wickets for 23 runs in 3.5 overs. She is the eighth bowler to achieve that feat in WPL history, and the third Indian bowler to take five wickets in a match.
Back in the lead! 🔝
— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) January 18, 2026
2025 #TATAWPL Purple Cap winner Amelia Kerr leads the 2026 Purple Cap charts with 🔟 wickets after Match 1⃣1⃣ 👏#KhelEmotionKa pic.twitter.com/sVZg27siC6
PERFORMANCE: RCB manhandled the Warriorz when they went toe-to-toe on Monday 12 January. The ladies from Bengaluru needed 12.1 overs to get to 145/1 and claim victory. They had Grace Harris to thank for that. The 32-year-old Australian bashed 85 runs from 40 balls to set RCB up for victory.
The highlight of her innings was when she harvested 32 runs off a single Deandra Dottin over. Dottin is now tied with Sneh Rana for the most expensive over in the WPL.
OVERSEAS PLAYER: The Warriorz are experiencing a resurgence. They won back-to-back matches after starting their season with three consecutive losses. Their first win was courtesy of Harleen Deol’s heroics, and the second was thanks to Phoebe Litchfield’s half-century.
The new Orange cap holder scored a 37-ball 61 to set the Warriorz up for victory. That was her second half-century of the season and she now has 211 runs in five innings and was the first batter to cross the 200-run mark this season.
TALKING POINT: Teams retiring out players was a big feature last week. The Giants got the trend running when they retired out Ayush Soni, who chewed up 14 balls for her 11 runs against Mumbai.
A mere 24 hours later, the Warriorz retired out Harleen Deol while she was on 47 from 36 balls. Bharti Fulmali justified the Giants’ decision by smashing 36 runs from 15 balls, while Chloe Tryon, who came in for Deol was dismissed on the third delivery she faced. What do both events have in common?
The Giants and the Warriorz both lost those matches. The sample size is small, but so far, the move hasn’t given anyone a significant advantage.
The ChatGPT Match IQ Award between Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru goes to Smriti Mandhana#TATAWPL | #KhelEmotionKa | #DCvRCB | #ChatGPT | @OpenAI pic.twitter.com/H2lzWPpEvk
— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) January 18, 2026
LOOK OUT FOR: RCB is on the cusp of making history. The Smriti Mandhana-captained side has had a charmed run, winning four out of four games. This is their run in the WPL.
They are one win away from equaling Mumbai’s historic run of five consecutive wins in the 2022/23 season. They have a shot of equaling that record when they go up against the Giants on Monday 19 January.
Should they overcome the Giants, they will have a chance of making history by becoming the first team to win six matches in a row when they go up against the Capitals on Saturday 24 January.