WPL 2023: With Lanning's Stamp and Kapp's Class, Delhi Peak at the Perfect Time

Delhi Capitals became the first franchise to enter the final of the 2023 WPL.

During Chennai Super Kings' peak in the Indian Premier League, it was jestfully said that the IPL is a tournament where all other teams fight it out to face CSK in the final. It seemed as if CSK had found a parallel in the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League in Mumbai Indians who looked all but certain to coast through to the final uncontested. 

Delhi Capitals chose to disagree. 

The Delhi Capitals success story began on the WPL auction table when they picked Australian captain Meg Lanning. One was surprised to see only Mumbai Indians running DC close and the winning bid not exceeding Rs 1.10 crore, going up from her base price of Rs 50 lakh. 

Lanning's Leadership

Lanning has invaluable captaincy experience under her belt, having started her leadership journey with the Australian women's team back in 2014 as a 21-year-old. In fact, she is the first cricketer to lead her side in 100 T20 Internationals in women's cricket. 

Not only that, Lanning has helped Australia win four T20 World Cup titles - in 2014, 2018, 2020 and 2023 to go along with the 2022 ODI World Cup title. She is ahead of even greats like Ricky Ponting and MS Dhoni with five ICC titles to her name. 

The WPL franchises had a huge incentive in picking her, particularly when they were trying to build things up from scratch. Delhi Capitals proved to be the smartest of the lot and have reaped the rewards, with Lanning leading the way, leading from the front and leading by example. 

Going by her track record, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Delhi Capitals have become the first team to qualify to the final of the Women's Premier League by virtue of finishing at the top spot in the group stage, with six victories from eight matches – the same as Mumbai Indians but with a superior net run rate of 1.856 as compared to MI's 1.711. 

Lanning has not only inspired her troops to rally around her but has taken the lead on the individual front as well, topping the run-scoring charts at the end of the group stage with 310 runs from 8 matches at an average in excess of 50 and a strike rate of over 140, including two half-centuries and the best of 72. 

In fact, she is the only player to have breached the 300-run mark in the competition till now. Her opening partnership with Shafali Verma has been an out and out hit with Verma being much more consistent than she has been for India in the recent past. 

Verma's Rapid Starts

The destructive opener has the second most runs for Delhi Capitals this season with 241 runs at almost 35. More importantly, she has the best strike rate (182.57) in the tournament, no caveats attached. Despite having scored two half-centuries, Verma would herself agree that she could have built on her starts a bit more. 

Nevertheless, her swashbuckling dashes have helped set the tone for Delhi Capitals. This is why they have gone at almost 10 runs per over in the powerplay – the best in the competition, and that too by a fair margin. 

Much like Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey may not have been super consistent but has made impactful runs, going at a strike rate of almost 160. Marizanne Kapp and Jemimah Rodrigues have also contributed at crucial intervals, with 159 and 117 runs to their name respectively. 

The Delhi Capitals bowling effort has been a thorough team performance with Shikha Pandey, Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen, Tara Norris and Alice Capsey playing their part. 

Pandey's Discipline 

Seasoned Indian quick Shikha Pandey has flown under the radar somewhat, claiming 10 wickets from eight games at 18.80. Her economy rate of 6.71 is among the best in the competition. In fact, her wicket tally is the highest among pacers from the three teams which have qualified for the playoffs. 

Pandey's performances stand out, particularly when compared to the outputs of other Indian pace bowlers. Even India's ace pacer Renuka Thakur found it agonisingly hard to adjust to small boundaries, ultra aggressive batters and true batting pitches on offer and had to be ultimately dropped by RCB. 

Left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen has not only bowled on crucial junctures like she does for Australia in big matches but has also won Delhi a couple of matches with her power hitting lower down the order as well. 

Kapp's Class

Much like Hayley Matthews for Mumbai Indians, Marizanne Kapp has been a revelation for Delhi Capitals. Kapp has provided tremendous balance to the side with her heroics with both bat and ball. 

In fact, it was her 5-wicket haul against Gujarat Giants which turned the tide in Delhi's favour and gave them the impetus which has seen them pip Mumbai Indians to the final. 

The South African all-rounder's economy rate of 5.75 is the best in the competition among bowlers with a minimum of two wickets. Her economy rate of 5.29 in the powerplay is the second best after Nat Sciver-Brunt among bowlers to have bowled a minimum of 50 balls in the first six overs.

Mumbai Indians may have won their first five matches on the trot but stuttered at the business end. In contrast, Delhi Capitals have maintained a steady run, with three pairs of back-to-back wins, sandwiching two losses. In that sense, DC have peaked at the perfect time with their last two wins coming by big margins of 5 wickets and 9 wickets with 13 and 66 balls to spare respectively. 

Just like Meg Lanning's Australia are used to, Lanning's Delhi Capitals now await their opponents for the big final on March 26, with their feet up and backs reclined.