With nine wickets down in the 16th over for 79 runs, it looked like the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2023 final is heading towards a one-sided affair. Apart from Meg Lanning and Marizanne Kapp, no other Delhi Capitals batter applied herself in the middle. But the partnership between Shikha Pandey and Radha Yadav turned the game upside down.
The 10th wicket partnership did not just prevent Capitals from getting all out but scorecard at a pace that helped them post a fighting total of 131/9 on the board. The 52-run partnership between the two is the highest 10th wicket partnership in women’s T20s which includes franchise T20 cricket, domestic T20 cricket and T20Is.
Batting at no.8, Pandey played a few extravagant shots against the pacers. She scored 27 runs from just 17 balls including three fours and one six. She hit Issy Wong for two fours and one six in the penultimate over. In the final over, Radha showed her class with two consecutive sixes to finish off the innings. She contributed with a brilliant cameo of 27 from 12 balls including two fours and as many sixes.
Radha batted at no.11 despite proving herself to be a hard hitter. When skipper Lanning got out in the 12th over, Capitals were 74/5. After her wicket, even singles did not come easy. Arundhati Reddy got out for a five-ball duck. Jess Jonassen managed just two runs off 11 balls before handing an easy catch to Hayley Matthews. Minnu Mani who replaced Poonam Yadav scored just a single from nine deliveries. Wicketkeeper-batter Taniya Bhatia got bowled for a two-ball duck.
Caribbean all-rounder Matthews did not just take three wickets but conceded just five runs from her quota of four overs including two maiden overs.
Radha did well with the ball too. She conceded 24 runs in her quota of four overs and picked up the wicket of opener Yastika Bhatia in the second over to push MI on the back foot early on in the run chase.
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