Will all talks around the possible dearth of entertainment value ahead of its commencement, the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League has lived up to the expectations of its optimists so far and has handed a saccharine punch on the faces of the detractors with some high-scoring, action-packed matches.
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With the tenth match of WPL 2023 currently underway, we will have arrived at the halfway stage of the season by tonight, with a total of twenty league matches scheduled to take place this year.
As things stand presently, it is the Mumbai Indians Women led by Harmanpreet Kaur, who are soaring high having notched-up three consecutive wins in their first three matches of the season. Smriti Mandhana-led Royal Challengers Bangalore, despite boasting of a star-studded line-up, are currently holding the wooden spoon after suffering four losses in their first four matches.
WPL rules for playoffs
With the playoffs scheduled to commence from March 24 onwards, the format for WPL 2023 is not akin the one currently followed by the Indian Premier League (IPL).
While a total of four teams (out of ten) qualify for the playoffs in the IPL, the WPL will see only three teams (out of five) qualify for the same after the end of the league stage.
What is common however, is that the five teams in WPL will face each of the other four teams in the league two times around to mark the end of the league phase on March 21 (Tuesday).
Womens IPL playoffs qualification
How would these three playoffs teams be decided then? Its pretty simple. The team which tops the points table after the end of the league stage automatically qualifies for the grand finale, which will take place at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, on March 26 (Sunday). This means that the table-toppers would not be required to play the qualifiers to book their grand finale berth.
Thus, the first match of the playoffs will be the ‘Eliminator’, which will take place between the second and third placed teams in the points table. The teams which finish on the fourth and fifth spot in the table get eliminated.
The winner of the ‘Eliminator’ will eventually face the table-topper in the final.
