WPL 2023: Can Delhi Capitals avoid eliminator and qualify for Final directly? The Scenario

Delhi Capitals have made a decent start to their inaugural Women's Premier League campaign. After the halfway stage, they are sitting 2nd in the WPL table with six points after four games.

They are just two points behind Mumbai Indians at the summit of the WPL, who have won all of their first four matches and have been by far the most dominant side in this WPL. Among the five teams, the team finishing at the top position will qualify straightaway for the Final, while the 2nd and 3rd placed teams will have to go through an eliminator to warrant a final date.

Although Delhi Capitals are in a decent position, all three fates are still possible for them - a direct entry to finals, an eliminator, or an elimination from the group stages. Today we shall take a look at their possible fates-

Elimination

DC are currently four points ahead of the elimination zone. Gujarat Giants are sitting 4th with 2 points and RCB have no points after four games. Given the vast gap net run rate among the teams, DC will need three defeats in their final four games to get themselves eliminated from the group stage.

On Monday (March 13), they will be facing the Royal Challengers Bangalore, and a win in that match will virtually ensure their playoff berth.

Playoff Hopes: Finishing 2nd or 3rd

This looks the most possible destination for Delhi Capitals at the moment. The Meg Lanning-led side need two victories to ensure a playoff spot and if one of those two wins comes against UP Warriorz, their 2nd placed finish will get a bigger boost.

But there is no such advantage in finishing 2nd as teams positioned at either 2nd or 3rd will be locking against each other in the eliminator. Hence we can give ourselves some leeway regarding the stress to finish as runners-up in the table.

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Finishing 1st, Direct entry to Final

This is also a possibility for Delhi Capitals. But the absolute imperative to achieve first place is to beat Mumbai Indians in their next meet. DC were bamboozled in the reverse fixture against MI, and will have to win their match against MI to bolster their chances.

Although Mumbai have just one more win than the Capitals, if DC beat Harmanpreet Kaur's side in their next fixture, the fate to finish at top of the table will be in their own hands. DC can also finish first if Mumbai loses more matches than them in the final four matches, but that is a different set of permutations.

Verdict:

Delhi Capitals are one of the strongest teams in this WPL. The team has gelled extremely well and apart from their loss against MI, all of their three registered victories have been dominating ones. With RCB and Gujarat Giants being their next two group matches, DC will be aiming to seal their playoff berth with two games to spare. Meg Lanning is the current orange cap holder in the WPL, while the likes of Shafali Verma, Tara Norris, Jemimah Rodrigues have been outstanding for them so far.

Mathematically, everything is still possible. But if we dive into the practical aspect of this tournament, it looks Delhi Capitals will qualify for the playoffs and may have to play the eliminator to qualify for the inaugural WPL final.