Navi Mumbai, Jan 10 (IANS) Jemimah Rodrigues marked her first outing as Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper by winning the toss and electing to bowl against defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) clash at the DY Patil Stadium on Saturday.

After calling it right at the toss, Jemimah, the youngest captain in WPL’s history, said Laura Wolvaardt, Chinelle Henry, Marizanne Kapp and Lizelle Lee are the four overseas players, while pacer Nandini Sharma has been handed a tournament debut.

“Hundred percent, DY Patil is always special for me. I made my Test debut here, won my first World Cup here, and now I’m leading Delhi for the first time on this ground – so it means a lot. I really enjoy leading. I’ve been captaining my state side since I was 16, so those experiences help.

“Responsibility brings the best out of me, and my team has taken a lot of pressure off me. I know they’ll back me no matter what, and that makes it a lot of fun. There’s some fresh energy in this group which I’m really excited about. The overseas and domestic players have put in a lot of work, so I can’t wait to see them out there,” she said.

MI are aiming to bounce back after suffering a three-wicket defeat in the opening game to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Friday. Triveni makes her debut, Saika misses out. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur said left-arm spinner Triveni Vasistha makes her WPL debut, replacing Saika Ishaque.

“We would have chased if we won the toss. There was very less time to recover, but it is always important to learn from the previous game and improve. We’re all professionals, and we know coming in fresh is important. Today’s pitch looks different. Looks good to bat,” she said.

Playing XIs

Delhi Capitals: Shafali Verma, Laura Wolvaardt, Jemimah Rodrigues (captain), Lizelle Lee (wicket-keeper), Marizanne Kapp, Niki Prasad, Chinelle Henry, Sneh Rana, Minnu Mani, Sree Charani, and Nandini Sharma

Mumbai Indians: Amelia Kerr, G Kamalini(w), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Nicola Carey, Sajeevan Sajana, Amanjot Kaur, Poonam Khemnar, Triveni Vasistha, Shabnim Ismail, and Sanskriti Gupta

–IANS

nr/