The Brabourne Stadium, dressed in fifty shades of blue, burst into celebration as Natalie SciverBrunt scooped the ball over to the fine-leg boundary for a four. It was an audacious end to what had been an audacious tournament. Women's cricket, given the glamorous franchise league platform in India for the very first time, proved it could script some of the best primetime entertainment.
For 22 days, the inaugural Women's Premier League captured the imagination of cricket fans around the world. It wasn't the first women's T20 League by any measure. But no other country stages, connects with or consumes cricket quite like India, the sport's spiritual and financial capital. Almost every match was played in front of capacity crowds, and the players thrived under the spotlight.
Launched 15 years after the men's Indian Premier League came into being, the WPL was long overdue. And the players more than ready. Big runs, power hits, crafty bowling, incredible athletic fielding a famous hat-trick, the women's League had it all.
"It feels like a dream, I think not only for me but for everyone here, even for the crowd," said India and Mumbai Indians captain Harmanpreet Kaur, 34, after the final on Sunday. "It was a great experience for all of us, we were waiting for this moment for so many years."
The tournament had begun and ended with a convincing win for the Mumbai franchise. While Mumbai scored a massive 143-run win in the WPL opener against the Gujarat Giants, they ended it be beating Delhi Capitals by seven wickets in the final on Sunday, with SciverBrunt applying the finishing touches.
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