Aussies impress at 2025 Women's Premier League

By Simone Wearne

14 Aussies took the field in the most recent iteration of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in India. With games kicking off back on February 15th, the five-team tournament concluded on March 16 with Mumbai Indians claiming the their second franchise title.

13 Aussies initially signed with WPL teams this year, with a 14th player (Georgia Voll) later included as an injury replacement.

The 2025 WPL Captains at the start of the tournament, including two Aussies, Ash Gardener and Meg Lanning. Photo credit - WPL 2025.

In what would come as no surprise to anyone who follows women’s cricket, the Aussies once again proved pivotal players with both ball and bat. We’ve broken down the results for the 14 Aussies who were involved below.

Gujarat Giants (Ash Gardener, Beth Mooney, Phoebe Litchfield)

Ash Gardener (Captain), Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield were all part of the Giant franchise. Gardener succeeded her Aussie teammate Mooney as the new Captain, and was every bit the leader the team were looking for.

In her nine innings at the crease, Gardener put on 243 runs at a strike rate of 164.2 She took 8 key wickets with the ball, doing it in style with an economy of 8.03 across the tournament.

Ash Gardener hitting another boundary for the Giants during WPL 2025. Photo credit - WPL 2025.

Gardener stood tall, and when the team needed a superstar, there she was to deliver. Her captaincy was pivotal to the team reaching the knock-out stages of the tournament for the first time.

Gardener takes out a Player of the Match award during the 2025 WPL. Photo credit - WPL 2025.

Beth Mooney stood tall as she always does, scoring 237 runs across her nine innings, second highest scorer for the Giants behind Gardener. The wicket keeper led the batting at important stages of the team’s campaign, scoring two half centuries, one of which included a 96 not out at the crease which drove the Giants to a huge 81 run win over the UP Warriorz.

Beth Mooney scored the first 50 of the tournament in 2025 from just 37 balls against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Photo credit - WPL 2025.

Finally, whilst Phoebe Litchfield only made it to the crease in six matches, her 91 runs at a strike rate of 135.82 added an energy that no doubt helped the team across the five-week event.

Delhi Capitals (Meg Lanning, Jess Jonassen, Annabel Sutherland)

The ever-reliable Meg Lanning continued her consistent WPL career in 2025. Her third year as the Captain for Delhi, Lanning scored 276 runs with a 118.96 strike rate. She guided her team to a top of the table finish for the third year straight, once again cementing herself as not only one of the most important players in the Premier League, but a critical leader for the Capitals.

Meg Lanning once again led by example for Delhi. Photo credit - WPL 2025.

Delhi may have finished runners-up for the third time in a row, but Lanning’s presence continues to ensure the franchise are in a strong position year in, year out.

Jess Jonassen and Annabel Sutherland also played important roles for the Delhi team in 2025. A star all-rounder once again, Jonassen led the wicket-taking for the Capitals, taking 13 wickets at an economy of 8.24. She took the second most wickets for the tournament. In addition, she amassed 150 runs in her six chances at the crease, batting with a strike rate of 145.63.

Jess Jonassen at the crease for Delhi. Photo credit - ESPNcricinfo.

Sutherland didn’t necessarily have her best tournament, but she did take on a significant workload. She bowled 33.1 overs, the second most for the Capitals, taking 9 wickets. She bowled at an average of 27.88, and her best figures were 3/34.

With the bat she was at the crease on 7 occasions, tallying 95 runs at an average of 15.83. Her highest score for the tournament was 41 not out.

UP Warriorz (Alana King, Grace Harris, Tahlia McGrath, Georgia Voll)

There was a lot of chat pre-WPL 2025 about Alana King’s participating for the first time. Coming off the back of two years where King was overlooked in the WPL auction, King entered the 2025 iteration with big expectations.

Alana King celebrates a wicket during the 2025 Women's Ashes Series. Photo Credit - ESPNcricinfo.

Player of the series for the Aussies’ Ashes demolition of the Poms earlier in the year where she took 23 wickets at 11.17, she was later named ICC Women’s Player of the Month for February.

King played just one game for the Warriorz in what was an expensive 3 over spell (0/38).

Grace Harris, on the other hand played all 8 matches for her team. She had the third highest batting average for the team (20.37), scoring 163 runs with a 118.97 strike rate. She was second for 4’s, only behind fellow Aussie Georgia Voll.

Voll joined the Warriorz as a replacement player for Sri Lankan Chamari Athapaththu. And she didn’t take a backward step, second highest scorer for her team in just three innings at the crease, with a strike rate of over 160.

Voll fell agonisingly short of scoring the first ever century in the WPL, smashing 17 fours and one six as she scored a total of 99 runs of just 56 balls in a Warriorz win against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru on March 8th.

Georgia Voll is congratulated by fellow Aussies Perry and Wareham after her 99 not out performance against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Photo credit - WPL 2025.

Tahlia McGrath played only five games for UP, scoring 26 runs at a strike rate of 70.27. Further, she conceded 97 runs with the ball, bowling 11.5 overs securing only a couple of wickets.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Ellyse Perry, Georgia Wareham, Kim Garth, Heather Graham)

Elysse Perry, a veteran since the establishment of the WPL back in 2023, starred again in the latest tournament. She scored the second most runs of any batter, a total of 372 at a huge average of 93 and a strike rate of 148.8. She was not out on four occasions.

Elysse Perry scores another 50 during WPL 2025. Photo credit - WPL 2025.

Perry joined an illustrious club in early March, scoring her fourth half century of the tournament, equalling Meg Lanning’s feat of four from back in 2024 (along with Tahlia McGrath who also scored 4 50’s in 2023). This record would later be beaten by the overall tournament batting leader Nat Sciver-Brunt who ended the 2025 WPL with five 50’s.

Elysse Perry also ended the WPL as the top Aussie run scorer all time (972), overtaking Meg Lanning (952 runs). Again, only English woman Nat Sciver-Brunt has amassed more runs in her time in the WPL (1027).

Georgia Wareham starred for the Challengers, taking 12 wickets in her 8 matches, with an impressive economy rate of 8.79. Her tournament was highlighted by a spell of 3/21. It was her best WPL yet, the most wickets taken since she began her career in the Indian T20 league back in 2023 (2023 – 1 wicket, 2024 – 7 wickets).

Georgia Wareham speaks to the media during WPL 2025. Photo credit - WPL 2025.

She also contributed with the bat, scoring 93 runs over 6 innings (3 not outs) with an average of 31 and a strike rate of 136.76.

Kim Garth played an important role with the ball for her team. She bowled an equal team high 29 overs, gathering 8 wickets at an average of 30.25. Her best figures were 2/19.

Finally, Heather Graham took the field only once during the tournament, conceding 47 runs in her 4 overs, taking one wicket.

Overview

The Aussies played a pivotal role in WPL 2025, notably the two veterans who continue to lead by example. Both Lanning and Perry have played all three seasons of the WPL and do not look like slowing down.

Further, up and coming superstar Ash Gardener also made her mark after lacking the polish we expected when she was taken as the highest priced player during the 2024 WPL auction.

As we look ahead to 2026, the interest will lie with how the older heads can continue to deliver, and who is set to be the next star from down under.