Marizanne Kapp bagged a five-wicket haul before Shafali Verma struck a blazing half-century (76* off 28 balls) as Delhi Capitals returned to winning ways with a commanding performance against Gujarat Giants in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) on Saturday.
Kapp bowled four straight overs with the new ball after Gujarat opted to bat at the DY Patil Stadium. Delhi, who had lost their previous game to Mumbai Indians, were relentless with the ball in the powerplay, restricting their opponents to 105/9.
Opener Verma bossed the chase with a 19-ball half-century as DC finished with 107/0 in 7.1 overs to complete a stunning 10-wicket victory.
Gujarat Giants had raised questions even before the match started. Earlier in the tournament, UP Warriorz defeated them thanks to a special Grace Harris innings, but still dropped her for the next game. Gujarat did something similarly odd on Saturday by dropping Sophia Dunkley, who had smashed an 18-ball half-century in the previous game win against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
With Beth Mooney ruled out of the season due to injury, Gujarat brought in Laura Wolvaardt for Dunkley at the top of the order. The move to include Wolvaardt, who wasn’t in GG’s original squad, directly in the playing XI didn’t work as her South African teammate Kapp stole the show.
On a fresh pitch, Kapp delivered a phenomenal spell of pace bowling. She knocked back S Meghana’s off-stump with the second delivery of the match, but it was her second over that truly broke Gujarat’s back.
Wolvaardt and Ashleigh Gardner, two of the most in-form batters in international cricket, were dismissed off consecutive deliveries by Kapp. The 33-year-old delivered a fine in-swinger to Wolvaardt, who played all over it to be bowled. She produced a similar ball to trap the dangerous Gardner in front.
Harleen Deol, who had played two impressive knocks back-to-back and was off to a good start again, was dismissed leg before by Kapp with a clever off-cutter. Sushma Verma was bowled.
Three batters bowled and trapped in front was a reward for Kapp attacking the stumps with smart variations. She claimed 5/15, the best figures in the tournament, which reduced GG to 33/6 in 6.5 overs.
The Australian duo of Georgia Wareham (22 off 25 balls) and Kim Garth (32* off 37) put up a fight down the order for GG but it was too little, too late. For Delhi, Shikha Pandey, another seasoned pacer, produced a fine spell as well, taking 3/26.
Delhi were on top of the chase throughout thanks to Verma’s fireworks. The 19-year-old, who led India to the title in the inaugural ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup, struck 10 fours and five sixes to remain unbeaten on 76 off 28 balls. Skipper Meg Lanning was 21 not out off 15 balls.
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