WPL 2023: England pacer Kate Cross unsure if any team can stop the Mumbai Indians

Mumbai, March 10: England pacer Kate Cross has said she is unsure if anyone can catch Mumbai Indians in the inaugural Women's Premier League (WPL) after their win over Delhi Capitals on Thursday (March 9).

Mumbai Indians continued their unbeaten start to WPL 2023 with a thumping 8-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

There was huge anticipation around the match on Thursday (March 9) as two of the unbeaten and impressive sides were set to meet, but MI proved too good for DC as they bowled them out for 105 and chased down the target in 15 overs.

Harmanpreet Kaur-led Mumbai Indians have so far registered wins over Gujarat Giants, Royal Challengers Bangalore and DC. And all their wins have come in emphatic fashion.

The Mumbai-based side opened their campaign with a huge 143-run win over Gujarat Giants and followed that with a 9-wicket win over RCB. They are on 6 points from 3 matches and with a very superior Net Run Rate.

Their dominance this campaign is very unlikely to end, feels Cross, who is working as an expert for Sports 18 and JioCinema. Cross also felt that MI are firm contenders for the title now.

"Mumbai have been absolutely formidable. They look complete in every single department. They dropped a few catches early and that's the only thing you can say about tonight that they didn't get perfect. They've been a brilliant team to watch. Who'll catch them? I am not too sure..," Cross said.

The highlight of MI's display so far has been the uncapped left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque, who currently holds the purple cap with 9 wickets from 3 matches.

The spinner from Kolkata has earned a lot of praise from all corners, including Cross, who has been incredibly impressed with Ishaque's emergence in the tournament.

"She's jumped significantly ahead of Hayley Matthews, her teammate. She bowls stump-to-stump, she changes the angles at which she bowls. She bowled in the cap today, I don't think she wants to take it off," Cross added.

"She's been a real find for this tournament and it's great for her (captain Harmanpreet Kaur) to have players like that to throw the ball to her because she can find the breakthrough and T20 cricket is all about taking wickets."

Fireworks were expected when MI took on DC in the top-of-the-table clash. However, the MI bowlers put up a spectacular show as Saika Ishaque, Issy Wong, and Hayley Matthews each picked up three wickets.

In response, MI openers Yastika Bhatia (41 off 32 balls) and Matthews (32 off 31 balls) put on 65 to help MI record their third straight win.

The English bowler also discussed the early success of Harmanpreet as a captain and how her job has been made a little easy with all the bowlers stepping up to execute their plans.

"To win three games by the margins they've had, I can't imagine how smug Harmanpreet must be feeling right now because they've been fantastic," Cross said.

"The tone was set with how they bowled, how Wong bowled, and how Ishaque bowled. They just had this plan and they executed it, that's all you can ask for as a captain. They managed to pick up the wickets, which was the bonus on top of executing the plan."

Mumbai Indians will hope to carry their winning momentum when they next face UP Warriorz on Sunday (March 12) at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.