Meg Lanning-led Delhi Capitals (DC) registered their third win on the trot to extend their lead over other teams on the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 points table. After Lanning’s half-century, Jemimah Rodrigues’ maiden WPL fifty with fireworks in slog overs helped DC register a comprehensive 29-run win over Mumbai Indians (MI) in the first match of the season at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi.
Ideal start for DC
Earlier, Harmanpreet won the toss and opted to bowl first. Shafali Verma and Lanning got DC off to a blazing start. Boundaries flowed in the powerplay overs. Shafali hit Shabnim Ismail for two consecutive sixes but the South African had the last laugh. She got rid of Shafali with a back-of-a-length delivery. Shafali departed after scoring 28 runs from 12 balls including three fours and a couple of sixes. After powerplay overs, DC were 56/1. Amelia Kerr was expensive in her first over conceding 15 runs. Hayley Matthews was introduced into the attack and she delivered with the wicket of Alice Capsey. She got bowled for a 20-ball 19.
Rodrigues goes berserk in death overs
Kerr was brought back to the attack and was smashed for two fours and a six by Lanning in the 20-run over. In the 13th over, Lanning reached her half-century from 36 balls. In the same over, she lost her wicket to Pooja Vastrakar. The opener scored 53 runs from 38 balls including six fours and a couple of sixes. Ismail in her last over was hit for three boundaries, two of which came off Rodrigues' bat. Rodrigues accelerated while Marizanne Kapp got bowled by Ishaque in the 18th over. In the penultimate over, Rodrigues hit Sciver-Brunt for a four and two sixes. She reached her maiden WPL fifty from 27 balls. In the last over, she hit a six and a four to take DC's score to 192/4. She remained unbeaten for 69 runs off 33 balls including eight fours and three sixes.
MI lose early wickets
In the run chase, Yastika Bhatia got bowled by Kapp for a single-digit score. Shikha Pandey struck with the first ball getting rid of Sciver-Brunt. Harmanpreet on her return after missing two games could not do much damage. She became Kapp's second victim of the evening. Matthews used the fielding restrictions with a few boundaries but Jess Jonassen got the better of her in the sixth over. Matthews scored 29 runs from 17 balls including six fours. After a slow start, Kerr hit Titas Sadhu for a six only to get out the next ball. She scored 17 runs from 20 balls. MI lost half their side for 68 in the nine overs.
Amanjot’s fiery knock not enough
Vastrakar struggled to rotate the strike in the middle overs while Amanjot Kaur looked for boundaries. She hit Radha and Shikhar for two boundaries each. Jonassen was brought back into the attack and she got the wicket of Amanjot. She hit seven fours in her 27-ball 42. Vastrakar's troubled stay at the crease was ended by Radha in the 18th over. With the required run rate already out of the grasp, S Sajana smashed Arundhati Reddy for three fours and a six in the penultimate over. In the final over, Jonassen finished the innings with the wicket of Humaira Kazi. MI managed to post 163/8 and lost the match by 29 runs.
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