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The Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 has reached its penultimate stage with Smriti Mandhana-led Royal Challengers Bangalore Women sealing the finals berth after they stunned the inaugural champions on Friday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium by five runs. The RCB Women will now take on the last year finalists Delhi Capitals Women on Sunday, March 17. On the other hand, with the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League nearing its start, the several franchises are still waiting for their full squad to join in with less than a week left.
Here in this article, we’ll look at all the big news that took place on Friday, March 15, but before that, let’s check the matches scheduled for the day.
PSL 2024: Peshawar Zalmi vs Islamabad United
Babar Azam-led Peshawar Zalmi will take on Shadab Khan’s Islamabad United in Eliminator 2 of the PSL 2024. The match is scheduled to be played at the National Stadium in Karachi from 9:30 p.m. IST. While the United are coming after a 39-run win in this game, the Babar Azam-led side will get another chance after they lot the Qualifier to Multan Sultans. The winner in this do-or-die fixture will seal a place in the final, set to be played on Monday, March 18.
Major cricket events that happened on March 15
Ellyse Perry’s all-round performance helps RCB Women reach first WPL final
On Friday, March 15, Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated the defending champions Mumbai Indians by five runs in the Eliminator, to reach the final of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024. At the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, it was an Ellyse Perry masterclass with both bat and ball, which helped the RCB make their first WPL final in history.
India’s ICC Champions Trophy 2025 participation in doubts: Reports
India’s participation in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is reportedly in doubt and won’t be discussed at the ICC’s meeting in Dubai on March 15. As per reports by RevSportz, the tournament that is set to be played in Pakistan in February-March 2025 is not an item on the meeting’s agenda. An ICC source RevSportz, “The Champions Trophy is not on the agenda as far as I’m aware.”
ICC announces reserve day for T20I World Cup 2024
ICC has announced the reserve day for the 2024 edition of the T20I World Cup. The global cricket governing body accepted that the forthcoming tournament will have a reserve day provision for the final match as well as the two semi-finals. The decision was taken at the ICC’s annual board meetings, held on March 15, Friday.
ICC to mandate Stop Clock in T20 World Cup 2024
The ICC has mandated the stop clock method in the white-ball fixtures starting from the T20 World Cup 2024, slated to take place in America and West Indies in June. The stop clock, used between the overs, was introduced on a trial basis in December 2023 and now, cricket's global governing body has mandated the method from June 2024.
Sheryas Iyer deemed fit amid injury rumours, expected to play IPL 2024
Shreyas Iyer is fit and will join the KKR’ pre-IPL camp soon. There were reports that Iyer’s back injury had aggravated with less than two weeks remaining for the cash-rich tournament. Amidst all the confusion, Mumbai team manager Bhushan Patil was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz, “There is no cause for concern, he is fine and will be going to Kolkata for the pre-IPL camp in two days.”
IPL 2024: DC's Ngidi ruled out, Fraser-McGurk named replacement
Delhi Capitals (DC) named all-rounder Jake Fraser-McGurk as replacement for Lungisani Ngidi for the upcoming edition of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Ngidi, who has played 14 IPL matches and has 25 wickets against his name, was ruled out of the TATA IPL 2024 due to injury. Jake Fraser-McGurk has played 2 ODIs for Australia. He joins DC for his reserve price of INR 50 Lakh.
IPL to move outside India, teams collect players' passports: Reports
The second leg of the IPL 2024 is reportedly set to move outside of India. Dainik Jagran's Abhishek Tripathi reported that a head coach of an IPL franchise told him that the players have been asked to submit their passports for some visa work. It means that the governing body wants to stay fully prepared if there are chances of moving the tournament to a foreign land.
Matthew Wade announces retirement from first-class cricket
Australian wicketkeeper Matthew Wade announced retirement from first-class cricket, after the Sheffield Shield final in Perth next week. Wade’s final red-ball assignment will be the summit clash of Australia's premier domestic red-ball tournament. Wade, however, will continue to play white-ball cricket for his side, Tasmania as well as the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League.
Tigers of Kolkata beat Majhi Mumbai to win ISPL T10 2024
In the inaugural ISPL T10, the Tigers of Kolkata defeated the Majhi Mumbai by 10 wickets in the final on Friday night in Thane. Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, who is the co-owner of the Kolkata-based franchise, was delighted with the victory while the players stormed onto the pitch to celebrate Kolkata becoming the champions of the ISPL 2024.
