Delhi Capitals into the finals again

Yesterday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, the Delhi Capitals (DC) defeated the Gujarat Giants (GG) by a margin of seven wickets in the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2024 match. DC’s convincing victory guaranteed them a spot in the championship game, where they will take on the victor of the Mumbai Indians vs. Royal Challengers Bangalore Eliminator.

Gujarat Giants with another below average performance

In the last league match of the campaign, Gujarat Giants won the toss and chose to bat first. Nevertheless, they were held to 126-9 as their batting collapsed once more. In 13.1 overs, DC stormed home thanks to a 71-ball strike from Shafali Verma. GG’s skipper, Beth Mooney, was bowled for a duck in the opening over, setting the stage for her awful start. The left-hander attempted to flick a length delivery on leg stump from Marizanne Kapp, but the ball hit her back thigh and deflected onto the stumps. Dayalan Hemalatha (4) was bowled by Jess Jonassen with one that came back in with the angle. Kapp had her second when Laura Wolvaardt (7) lobbed a catch to mid-off while trying to smash one over the top. Gujarat Giants ended the powerplay in big trouble at 23-3.Off-spinner Minnu Mani claimed the big wicket of Ashleigh Gardner (12), who was bowled by a tossed up delivery that turned in sharply. GG lost half their side for 48 when Phoebe Litchfield (21) was caught at mid-on off Mani immediately after she had hit the bowler for a six.

Bharti tried fighting back

A fighting sixth-wicket stand of 68 between Bharti Fulmali (42 off 36) and Kathryn Bryce (28* off 22) gave the Gujarat Giants innings some respectability. Fulmali hit seven fours before she was bowled by Shikha Pandey. The DC pacer had two in two when Tanuja Kanwar (0) chopped the next delivery onto the stumps. There were couple of run outs and couple of boundaries in the last over as GG got past 125.

Sensational Shafali Show

Chasing 127, Shafali and captain Meg Lanning added 31 in quick time before the latter was run out for 18. A mix-up between the DC openers saw Lanning sent back. She was caught short of her crease despite a desperate dive. Alice Capsey (0) perished in the same over to Kanwar, chipping a length ball straight to mid-off. Shafali and Jemimah Rodrigues (38* off 28) added 94 for the third wicket as Delhi Capitals raced towards victory. Shafali was especially severe on Gardner, clubbing her for two sixes in the seventh over and a four and six in the 10^th as she reached her half-century off 28 deliveries. The Shafali-Jemimah duo combined to smash 20 in the 12^th over bowled by Meghna Singh. Shafali perished on the last ball of the 13^th over, caught at mid-off off Kanwar, looking for the glory stroke. Jemimah hit the winning runs by smacking Mannat Kashyap past point for four.