3 most exciting matches to watch out for in Week 1 of WPL 2023

The Women's Premier League (WPL) is just around the corner with less than a week to go before the tournament gets underway. The tournament will begin on March 4 and the final will be played on March 26.

The WPL will be played in Mumbai for the entirety of the season, with the Brabourne Stadium and the Dr. DY Patil Stadium confirmed as the two venues. The latter will host the eliminator while the former will host the finals.

With five teams fighting for the ultimate prize, there will be a total of 20 league matches and two playoff games that will be played in a duration of 23 days. With games coming in thick and fast, the tournament is expected to be a grand success for the players as well as the fans.

On that note, we take a look at three matches to look forward to in the first week of the WPL:

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#1 GG vs MI

The wait for the Women's Premier League will finally be over on Saturday, March 4. The Mumbai Indians will take on the Gujarat Giants in the opening contest of the inaugural edition of the tournament at the Dr. DY Patil Stadium.

The buzz and anticipation will be palpable with the stadium expected to be packed to the rafters to the growth of women's sports in the country. Two icons of Indian cricket will also be in different corners with Mithali Raj mentoring the Gujarat Giants, while Jhulan Goswami mentors the Mumbai Indians.

This being the opening game of the tournament will make it a highly anticipated clash, giving us an early look into how the WPL might pan out.

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#2 MI vs RCB

Mumbai Indians against the Royal Challengers Bangalore is a clash that has plenty of history in the Indian Premier League. Now, it's time for the women to script their own history with a rivalry that should entertain the fans for a long time to come.

Two Indian superstars in Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana will go head-to-head in this contest at the Brabourne Stadium on March 6. There will be plenty of big names on show with Natalie Sciver-Brunt, Ellyse Perry, Sophie Devine and Amelia Kerr taking center stage in this contest.

If this rivalry in the WPL is anything like the rivalry between the two sides in the IPL, fans will certainly get their money's worth.

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#3 DC vs UP

The Delhi Capitals take on the UP Warriorz on March 7 at the Dr. DY Patil Stadium. After the auction was completed, the two sides stood out as two of the best teams on paper with the squads they managed to construct.

UP Warriorz have one of the best bowling attacks on paper and they will be matched up against one of the best batting units in the Delhi Capitals during this contest. The game could also see two Australian players go head-to-head as captains.

The Warriorz have already announced Alyssa Healy as their captain. The Capitals are yet to announce their captain with murmurs of Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma as potential candidates. However, Meg Lanning would be the obvious front-runner to lead the side in their first season in the WPL.