An exceptional fifer from Marizanne Kapp (5/15), followed by Shafali Verma's quickfire half-century (76 off 28), powered Delhi Capitals to a convincing 10-wicket win over Gujarat Giants in a Women's Premier League (WPL) 2023 match at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, here on Saturday, 11 March.
This was Delhi Capitals' third win in four matches and they are at the second spot in the points table while Gujarat suffered their third defeat in four games to lie in fourth place.
Apart from Kapp, the likes of Shikha Pandey (3-26) and Radha Yadav (1-19) also picked crucial wickets at different stages as Delhi Capitals restricted Gujarat Giants to 105/9 in 20 overs.
On the other hand, Kim Garth (32 not out off 37), Georgia Wareham (22 off 25) and Harleen Deol (20 off 14) were the only ones to make vital contributions to Gujarat.
Chasing a paltry total, Shafali made light work of the Giants' bowling attack and very much sealed the victory for Delhi inside the powerplay.
Her blistering knock started with a six and a four off Tanuja Kanwar in the second over, followed by a hat-trick of fours off Kim Garth. Ashleigh Gardner, who came to bowl next, wasn't spared either as the DC opener struck two fours and a six, with skipper Meg Lanning also striking two boundaries in the over that yielded 22 runs.
Two more fours, with a couple of singles, helped Shafali bring up a 19-ball fifty and then she hit two sixes off Kanwar as Delhi scored 87 in the powerplay.
Even after the powerplay, Shafali continued her demolition job and hit Mansi Joshi for two fours and a six in the seventh over. Lanning, who was happy to play the second fiddle during her 21 not out off 15, struck the winning boundary as Delhi chased down the target in just 7.1 overs.
Earlier, Gujarat Giants won the toss and opted to bat first but they were off to a disastrous start, losing five wickets inside the Power-play.
Marizanne Kapp Shines With the Ball
With the ball, Marizanne Kapp provided Delhi Capitals with an ideal start, getting rid of four Gujarat Giants batters in her first three overs. The pacer picked the important scalps of Sabbhineni Meghana, Laura Wolvaardt and Ashleigh Gardner to put Giants on backfoot.
Another Delhi pacer Shikha Pandey also didn't take long to make her impact in the game, getting rid of Dayalan Hemalatha in her first over to leave Gujarat in deep trouble.
Kapp continued her dominance and removed the inform batter Harleen Deol and wicket-keeper Sushma Verma in consecutive overs to complete her five-wicket haul as Giants slipped further to 33/6 after 6.5 overs.
At that stage, Gujarat were in danger of getting bowled out soon but Kim Garth and Georgia Wareham stitched a brief but crucial stand to lead the team's recovery. Wareham hit few boundaries and along with Garth were taking Gujarat forward but Radha Yadav removed her to dent Giants further.
Wickets were falling from the other end but Garth remained positive in her approach, hit few boundaries and along with Tanuja Kanwar (13) took Gujarat Giants to a total of 105-9 in 20 overs, which was definitely not enough.
Brief scores: Gujarat Giants 105/9 in 20 overs (Kim Garth 32 not out, Georgia Wareham 22; Marizanne Kapp 5-15, Shikha Pandey 3-26) lost to Delhi Capitals 107 for no loss in 7.1 Overs (Shafali Verma 76 not out, Meg Lanning not out 21) by 10 wickets.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)