4 similarities between the first match of IPL in 2008 and the first match of WPL in 2023

The first match of the Women's Premier League happened on March 4th. It was the Mumbai Indians that won the game and it was a one-sided encounter. On that note, in this article, we take a look at four similarities between the first match of IPL in 2008 and the first match of WPL in 2023.

The beginning of the WPL is a historic moment in Indian cricket. The IPL has played a big role in the men's game and it is expected that the women's premier league will also have a similar impact on the women's game. It needs to be seen how the tournament progresses in the next few weeks.

1) The winning team won the game by 140+ runs

 A winning margin of 140+ is a rarity in T20 cricket. Incidentally, both in the first game of IPL and WPL, the winning team had a winning margin in excess of 140 runs. While KKR won the game by 140 runs in 2008, Mumbai won the game by a margin of 143 runs. Considering this event does not happen often in the game, it is a big co-incidence that both these games happened at a historic moment.

2) The first batting team scored 200+ while the chasing team had a double-digit score

The scores of both teams are also one of the similarities between the first match of IPL in 2008 and the first match of WPL in 2023. Just like in IPL 2008, the WPL 2023 also had the first game in which the team batting first scored in excess of 200 while the squad chasing it could not reach the three-figure mark.

3) The losing team played exactly 15.1 overs before getting all-out

It is a big co-incidence that the chasing team exactly played 15.1 overs before getting all-out. It would have been difficult to even expect that there would be such a big similarity between the games. While RCB was the losing side in 2008, it was Gujarat in 2023.

4) The highest scorer of the match played at a strike rate of exact 216

The highest scorer of the game playing with the same strike rate is one of the similarities between the first match of IPL in 2008 and the first match of WPL in 2023. Brendon McCullum scored a brilliant hundred at a strike rate of 216 in IPL 2008. Interestingly, the top-scorer of the first WPL match, Harmanpreet Kaur, scored 65 runs in 30 balls, which means that she also played at the exact strike rate of 216.