At halfway stage, WPL 2025 is shaping up as best, and closest, yet

The WPL is played in a double round-robin league format – in other words, every team plays every other team twice. The five teams, thus, play eight matches each, making the first round a 20-game league.

When a tournament launches, it is probably not unexpected of some teams to get the first ever auction (or drafts) better than the others. Soon after the 2023 edition began, it became apparent that the Mumbai Indians and the Delhi Capitals had an edge over the others. They took early leads: halfway into the league, MI had won all four games and DC lost to only MI.

At the bottom of the table were the Royal Challengers Bangalore (now Bengaluru), with four defeats in four games. Just above them were the Gujarat Giants, whose lone win had come against the RCB. The UP Warriorz were well clear of both “groups”.

MI and DC eventually finished on 12 points apiece, four clear of UPW, who were, in turn, four clear of RCB and GG. The duopoly culminated in MI beating DC in the final. One might well have played the final after the first 10 games.

The 2024 edition was slightly more competitive, though MI and DC showed their strength in the first half. Neither side won the WPL in 2024, but that was because of RCB’s incredible run towards the end where they beat MI twice, then DC, in the space of six days to lift the trophy. The first of these guaranteed their qualification, while the other two were the eliminator and the final.

It is different this time.

DC have six points but they have played a match more (two more than MI, in fact, who are on four). RCB and UPW both have four points from four games, while GG, with two in four, is one win (or maybe two) away from staying in the hunt. There is no clear favourite... yet.

Points tables after first ten matches of every WPL

That, however, is not the only thing that has made 2025 stand out: not only have the teams been more competitive but so have been the matches. Not only has it featured the first ever tie in the history of the tournament but there has also been the second ever last-ball chase (DC beat MI), that too by the narrowest margin of victory by wickets (two).

Additionally, there have been two other instances of teams winning with one ball remaining (DC against UPW, MI against RCB). If one defines a “close match” as either (a) a tie or (b) a successful chase with up to one ball left or (c) a win that was one hit away from a defeat (in other words, a win by six runs or fewer), 2025 is ahead of even the very impressive 2024.

Close matches in every WPL edition

Mind you, this is about the results alone – and not the incredible performances that have happened en route. The tournament began with RCB chasing down a record 202 against GG, and has already witnessed Ellyse Perry overtaking Meg Lanning’s tally of runs, Sophie Ecclestone putting up arguably the greatest all-round show in WPL history, Indian stars like Kiran Navgire, Kanika Ahuja, and Kashvee Gautam leave their mark, and G Kamalini announce herself in style.

Does this mean this has been a perfect edition? Not quite. Of the ten games, only one (UPW against DC) was won by the side batting first – after Chinelle Henry played an innings few expected. Teams batting first had a 7-15 record in 2023, but in 2024, that read a remarkable 11-11. After that, 1-9 seems anticlimactic. If one has to nitpick, that is an aspect that can hopefully be evened out in the second half of the season.

We are looking at you, early-evening power hitters and late-night death bowlers.