MI and GG tussle to join RCB in playoffs
The winner seals a top-three spot, while the loser is left awaiting the result of DC-UPW
Hemant Brar
29-Jan-2026 • 7 hrs ago
Sophie Devine has been Gujarat Giants' talisman this season • BCCI
Big picture: A ticket to the playoffs
The most closely fought WPL so far has reached sudden death. Whoever wins Friday's match between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Giants will be through to the playoffs of WPL 2026. The loser will have to wait for the result of Sunday's clash between Delhi Capitals and UP Warriorz to know their fate.
MI and GG enter this all-important match on the back of contrasting wins. MI, led by Nat Sciver-Brunt's hundred, took down RCB in style. Let's be honest: Richa Ghosh's knock was never going to change the result, only protect RCB's net run rate (NRR).
GG, against DC, barely survived Niki Prasad and Sneh Rana's onslaught at the death. While they are currently second on the points table, they have a negative NRR, and a defeat on Friday could severely damage their playoffs chances.
Form guide
Gujarat Giants WWL (last three games, most recent first)
Mumbai Indians WLL
Mumbai Indians WLL
Previous meeting
After being sent in, GG posted 192 for 5 with contributions from almost every batter. But Harmanpreet Kaur's unbeaten 71 off 43 balls meant MI broke little sweat in their chase and crossed the line with seven wickets and four balls to spare.
In the spotlight: Sophie Devine and MI's overseas combination
Sophie Devine is easily the MVP of the season. She is GG's leading run-getter with 212 runs at a strike rate of 158.20. With the ball, she has more wickets (15) than anyone else in the tournament. She has smashed 32 runs in an over, and defended six and eight in the final over. Can she take GG into the playoffs on Friday?
Have MI finally stumbled onto their best overseas combination? With Hayley Matthews unfit at the start of the season, they gave a chance to Nicola Carey, whose all-round performance made her undroppable. So when Matthews became available, it left them wondering what their best combination was. Matthews' absence was hurting them in the batting powerplay - their scoring rate in this phase is 6.09 - and dropping Amelia Kerr against DC robbed them of one of the best spinners in the league. Carey's injury, though, meant they went in with their expected pre-tournament combination against RCB, and came out victorious. It will be interesting to see how they go about it against GG.
Team news
If Danni Wyatt-Hodge is fit, she could come in for Georgia Wareham.
Gujarat Giants (probable): 1 Beth Mooney (wk), 2 Danni-Wyatt Hodge, 3 Anushka Sharma, 4 Sophie Devine, 5 Ashleigh Gardner (capt), 6 Bharti Fulmali, 7 Kanika Ahuja, 8 Kashvee Gautam, 9 Tanuja Kanwar, 10 Renuka Singh, 11 Rajeshwari Gayakwad.
Even if Carey is available, MI may not tinker with their winning combination.
Mumbai Indians (probable): 1 Hayley Matthews, 2 Sajeevan Sajana, 3 Nat Sciver-Brunt, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Amelia Kerr, 6 Amanjot Kaur, 7 Sanskriti Gupta, 8 Poonam Khemnar, 9 Rahila Firdous (wk), 10 Vaishnavi Sharma, 11 Shabnim Ismail.
Big question
Pitch and conditions
The pitches in Vadodara were on the slower side to start with but in the last two games, 170 was breached every time a team batted. Expect the trend to continue. Since the start of the 2025 season, no team has opted to bat first after winning the toss in the WPL. That trend is also likely to continue.
Stats and trivia
- GG have been the fastest-scoring side in the powerplay this season, going at 8.73 per over. But MI have a counter in Shabnim Ismail, who has the second-best economy rate (5.27) in this phase (minimum five overs) and the joint third-most wickets (five).
- Kashvee Gautam (15.33) and Ashleigh Gardner (12.80) have the worst economy rates at the death this season (minimum five overs). GG could use Devine more often in the last four; she has the second-most wickets (nine) in this phase behind DC's Nandani Sharma (ten).
- Similarly, Kerr could bowl more overs at the death for MI. She has an economy rate of 8.00 in this phase, while all other MI bowlers who have bowled more than one over have gone at above 11.
Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo