Delhi Capitals’ hopes of getting a direct entry to the 2023 Women’s Premier League (WPL) final will live to see another day, as the team brushed Mumbai Indians aside in a comprehensive nine-wicket triumph. Chasing a meek target of 110 runs here at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Meg Lanning’s team took only nine overs to bag the two points.
Though their batting department is usually reliable, Mumbai Indians were a few notches too far from their usual level in this match. Yastika Bhatia, the young opening batter who has recorded three knocks north of 40 runs, was dismissed for a solitary run by Marizanne Kapp, before the latter scalped Natalie Sciver-Brunt for a golden duck.
With Hayley Matthews also being unavailing in her big to stabilise the innings, losing her wicket to Shikha Pandey in the very next over, the onus lay on skipper Harmanpreet Kaur to avoid her team from going down like ninepins. She was, to some extent, successful, albeit with little to no support from the other end.
Kiwi all-rounder Amelia Kerr could score all but 8 runs, whilst Pooja Vastakar did manage to get off to a decent start, before losing her wicket to Jess Jonassen when she was batting on 26. Mumbai then had half of the squad back at the dugout, with only 61 runs on the board and eight overs left to be bowled.
WPL 2023: Harmanpreet Kaur's 23-run knock prevented Mumbai Indians from going down like ninepins.
(Photo: BCCI)
Kaur’s battle lasted 26 deliveries and yielded 23 runs, before Shikha Pandey showed her the route back to the pavilion in the 15th over. However, just when the Capitals’ bowlers might have harboured dreams of cleaning up Mumbai’s lower order in the blink of an eye, the pair of Issy Wong and Amanjot Kaur decided to match their gazes.
Against all odds, they put up a gallant fight to add 30 runs for the seventh-wicket stand, helping their team to a total of 109 runs.
Delhi Capitals Regain Lost Ground on Net Run Rate
The target of 110 runs, however, proved to be significantly inadequate against the Delhi batters, who chose to make up lost ground in the net run rate column by firing all cylinders. The first three overs producing 33 runs forced Kaur to introduce her trump card, Saika Ishaque, in the fourth over itself. The move turned out to be detrimental, with the left-arm spinner conceding 17 runs.
Shafali Verma’s quickfire 33-run knock eventually met its conclusion in the next over, but by then, the Capitals had already scored more than half of the required runs.
WPL 2023: Shafali Verma set the tone for Delhi Capitals in the chase with a 33-run knock.
(Photo: BCCI)
New batter, Alice Capsey started from where Shafali had left, and only went a few steps further, as he took Matthews to the cleaners in the seventh over by scoring 22 runs.
Ishaque was recalled into the attack, but it simply was not her day, as the 27-year-old from West Bengal conceded 19 runs on this occasion, which saw Delhi chasing the total down in only nine overs. From a broader perspective, they also leapfrogged Mumbai in the standings to claim the pole position.
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