3 similarities between MI's triumphs in WPL 2025 and 2023

The Mumbai Indians (MI) became the first-time two-time Women's Premier League (WPL) champions after a thrilling eight-run win in the final of the 2025 edition against the Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Brabourne Stadium on Saturday, March 15. The franchise had won the inaugural edition too under Harmanpreet Kaur and have dominated the early stages of the competition.

MI had to overcome a tricky start to find some momentum in the final. Skipper Harmanpreet stepped up with a fifty while the well-honed bowling unit stuck to their task to defend the total.

The high-profile overseas stars, the Indian players, including the emerging talent all stepped up to compile yet another memorable season for the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Women's Premier League (WPL). Winning two titles in three years in a competitive league is a positive sign for a franchise, and there is not a lot to separate their title runs in 2023 and 2025.

On that note, let us take a look at three similarities between MI's triumphs in WPL 2025 and 2023.

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#1 Nat Sciver-Brunt and Hayley Matthews topping the charts

A huge difference between MI's title winning campaigns, and the 2024 season, was the contributions by their chief all-rounders, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Hayley Matthews. The pair played a huge role in MI's success in the inaugural season, with Matthews winning the Purple Cap while Sciver-Brunt was the second-leading run scorer, only 13 runs short of the Orange Cap winner Meg Lanning.

The stars aligned once again in the 2025 season, as they took their game up a notch. Scover-Brunt won the Orange Cap after smashing 523 runs, while Matthews was the joint-highest wicket-taker with 18 scalps to her name.

Their prime form ensured that MI had an in-form top-order and an impactful bowling unit capable of taking wickets. Their match-winning contributions game-in game-out was the biggest similarity for MI across both their successful campaigns so far.

Nat Sciver-Brunt also had the final say in both the WPL 2023 and 2025 finals. In the former, she scored the winning runs, while in the latter she bowled the final over.

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#2 Knockout success at home

The first edition of the WPL, including the knockouts, was staged entirely in Mumbai. On that occasion, MI won the Eliminator against the UP Warriorz (UPW) at the DY Patil Stadium, and defeated DC in the final at the Brabourne Stadium.

As it turned out, the 2025 edition's final leg after the ones in Vadodara, Bengaluru, and Lucknow, was also staged in Mumbai. Much like the 2023 season, MI defeated GG in Eliminator and DC in the Final at the Brabourne Stadium, in their home city.

To delve deeper into the similarities, MI had lost the toss during the 2023 final, as well as the 2025 Final. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side successfully chased dow the score in 2023, while defending the score in 2025.

Another similarity comes from the fact that MI finished second place due to net run-rate on both occasions. In 2023, they were tied with DC on 12 points, but could not directly qualify for the final because of a net run-rate difference of 0.145. Whereas in 2025, they were tied on 10 points apiece, with a difference of 0.204.

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#3 Three MI bowlers among the top four wicket-takers

MI's bowling unit, largely comprised of their high-profile all-rounders, has had a huge role to play in both their title wins. In the 2023 Purple Cap race, the top four were Hayley Matthews, Sophie Ecclestone, Issy Wong, and Amelia Kerr. Three of those four bowlers were MI players.

In the 2025 edition, the Purple Cap list began with Hayley Matthews, Amelia Kerr, followed by Jess Jonassen and Nat Sciver-Brunt. Once again, three MI players find a place among the top four.