Cricket gears up for inaugural Women’s Premier League | Who are the teams and how can you watch it? | Cricket News

The historic Women’s Premier League starts on Saturday, with some of the best players in the women’s game joining franchise cricket in India.

The Women’s Premier League, which is live on Sky Sports, has replaced the Women’s T20 Challenge, after BCCI president Sourav Ganguly announced plans to start a women’s version of the IPL in February 2022.

Five teams will feature in the inaugural tournament, with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Giants, UP Warriorz and Mumbai Indians taking part.

What is the format?

Initially, with five teams, the sides will play each other in a double round-robin format, with the three finishing with the most points entering the playoff stages of the competition.

The top team will automatically go to the final, with second and third place playing an eliminator match on March 24 at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy.

The first match takes place on March 4, with the Gujrat Giants facing the Mumbai Indians at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy.

All of the matches will be held in Mumbai, with Brabourne Stadium hosting the final.

Who are the teams?

Investors were invited to purchase the initial rights in January 2023, with Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Lucknow unveiled as the five successful host cities. The respective owner bids combined for £465m, including a top bid of around £128m from the Adani Group for the Ahmedabad franchise.

Among the owners are the five entities that currently oversee the IPL’s Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore franchises.

The five teams are UP Warriorz, Gujarat Giants, Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai.

The BCCI has indicated the Women’s Premier League will be expanded in the future.

How the draft worked?

Each match can include a maximum of five overseas players, one of whom must be from an ICC associate nation.

The first auction to purchase players for each franchise was held on February 13 in Mumbai.

Around 1,500 players registered their names and each franchise had £1.2m to spend on 15 to 18 players, six of whom could be overseas players.

The base price of an uncapped player at the first auction was between £10,800 and £20,791. For capped players it was between £31,602 and £51,390.

Which England players will feature?

Nat Sciver-Brunt was sold for £320,000 to the Mumbai Indians, and she is joined by Isabelle Wong, who was sold for £30,000.

The Mumbai Indians beat UP Warriorz to Sciver-Brunt but they snagged Sophie Ecclestone for £180,000 and Lauren Bell for £30,000.

The Gujarat Giants secured the services of Sophia Dunkley for £60,000, while Heather Knight will join RCB for £40,000.

Alice Capsey was bought by the Delhi Capitals for £75,000.

However, Tammy Beaumont, Sarah Glenn, Danni Wyatt, Katherine Sciver-Brunt and Freya Davies were not picked up.

Who are the players to watch?

Aside from the England players, there are a host of household names who will feature in the Women’s Premier League.

Smriti Mandhana will captain RCB, while Alyssa Healy has been handed the armband for UP Warriorz.

Mandhana attract plenty of interest at the auction and ended up as the highest priced player.

Healy’s Australian team-mates Ashleigh Gardner and Beth Mooney will play for the Gujrat Giants, while Ellyse Perry has been picked up by RCB and Meg Lanning joins Capsey at the Delhi Capitals.

Tahlia McGrath, who is the top ranked women’s batsman in T20s, has been picked up by the UP Warriorz.

Richa Ghosh joins her India team-mate Mandhana at RCB, while Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma will feature for the Delhi Capitals.

India’s T20 captain Harmanpreet Kaur will feature for the Mumbai Indians, while Deepti Sharma is part of the UP Warriorz squad.

What are the full fixtures?

(All matches in Mumbai; times in GMT)

Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians, Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, March 4, 2pm

Royal Challengers Banglore vs Delhi Capitals, Brabourne Stadium, March 5, 10am

UP Warriorz vs Gujarat Giants, Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, March 5, 2pm

Mumbai Indias vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, Brabourne Stadium, March 6, 2pm

Delhi Capitals vs UP Warriorz, Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, March 7, 2pm

Gujarat Giants vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, Brabourne Stadium, March 8, 2pm

Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians, Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, March 9, 2pm

Royal Challengers Bangalore vs UP Warriorz, Brabourne Stadium, March 10, 2pm

Gujarat Giants vs Delhi Capitals, Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, March 11, 2pm

UP Warriorz vs Mumbai Indians, Brabourne Stadium, March 12, 2pm

Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, March 13, 2pm

Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Giants, Brabourne Stadium, March 14, 2pm

UP Warriroz vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, March 13, 2pm

Delhi Capitals vs Gujarat Giants, Brabourne Stadium, March 16, 2pm

Mumbai Indias vs UP Warriorz, Dr DY Patil Sports Stadium, March 18, 10am

Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Giants, Brabourne Stadium, March 18, 2pm

Gujarat Giants vs UP Warriorz, Brabourne Stadium, March 20, 10am

Mumbai Indians Women vs Delhi Capitals Women, Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, March 20, 2pm

Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians, Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, March 21, 10am

UP Warriorz vs Delhi Capitals, Brabourne Stadium, March 21, 2pm

Eliminator, Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, March 24, 2pm

Final, Brabourne Stadium, March 26, 2pm

How can you watch the Women’s Premier League?

Sky Sports agreed a deal to show the Women’s Premier League, with coverage of the opening fixture on Sky Sports Cricket on Saturday from 1.50pm. Watch the best sport with NOW and on Sky Sports.

The addition of the tournament further confirms Sky’s place as the home of cricket in the UK and Ireland.

Following the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup earlier this month, Sky Sports will show the men’s Cricket World Cup, men’s Ashes Tests and the multi-format women’s Ashes, plus England’s men hosting South Africa, Ireland New Zealand, England Women versus Sri Lanka, The Hundred, The Blast and much more.