Delhi Capitals Secure a Place in the Final with a Dominant Win in WPL 2024
Delhi Capitals demonstrated their dominance in the latest match, clinching a commanding victory against Gujarat Giants and securing their spot in the WPL 2024 final.
Giants played to a meek 126 for 9, and once again their performance halted.
Gujarat Giants 126 for 9 (Fulmali 42, Bryce 28*, Mani 2-9, Kapp 2-17, Pandey 2-23) were defeated by Delhi Capitals 129 for 3 (Shafali 71, Rodrigues 38*, Kanwar 2-20) by seven wickets.
With a tragic clatter, six balls—half of them worldies—richocheted off Beth Mooney‘s thigh pad and smashed into the base of the middle and leg stump. In the final group game of this year’s competition, which the Delhi Capitals won handily to guarantee their spot in the final, Marizanne Kapp‘s opening over provided the perfect opportunity for the team to hammer home their WPL title credentials.
But neither they nor Kapp were done there. Not for the first time, she and Jess Jonassen combined to quickly remove two more wickets as the Gujarat Giants collapsed to 16 for 3 in five overs.
Shafali Verma‘s outstanding half-century made sure that the victory came quickly and decisively. With 41 balls left, the Capitals crushed the target of 127 to secure first place in the table and a direct ticket to Sunday’s decider against the Royal Challengers Bangalore or the reigning Mumbai Indians. The Giants will continue to hunt for a postseason spot until 2025.
Mooney was clearly beaten when Kapp’s second delivery landed just back of a length in the channel and then cut away late. Mooney was cut in half by Kapp’s sixth, which was of a similar length but this time on leg stump, causing Capitals wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia to hurl herself to her right to gather. The following ball, though, was the one that was on a length and on leg stump. Mooney attempted to deflect it with her fine leg, but it bounced off her thigh and into the surrounding woods.
When Jonassen came onto the field in the fourth over, she struck with her third delivery. She fired in on a length and then came back into D Hemalatha, but the ball pegged back the top of off stump and the batsman missed.
After Laura Wolvaardt misplayed to Shafali at mid-off, Kapp claimed her second wicket and the Gaints top three finished on the bench with single-figure scores. In powerplays this WPL, the two Capitals players have grabbed a total of 12 wickets between them. With 11 wickets apiece for the event, Kapp and Jonassen are tied for first position with Sophie Ecclestone, whose campaign came to an end as UP Warriorz lost in the group round.
Minnu Mani, an offspinner who replaced Titas Sadhu in the side, claimed two wickets in five balls, leaving the Giants reeling at 48 for 5, just over halfway through their innings. She dismissed Ashleigh Gardner with a ball that gripped, spun, and crashed into the stumps. After being hit for six runs down the ground, Phoebe Litchfield was decisively and quickly retaliated against by Radha Yadav, who caught her at mid-on.
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Giants Recover, but Pandey Destroys Them
Capitals Wasted no Time to Chase
Meg Lanning and Shafali raced to 31 without loss in three overs, giving the Capitals the clear idea that there were somewhere to be—the final, to be exact. In the second over of the chase, Lanning got things going by hitting four fours in five balls off of Bryce’s opening over.
Lanning dove in vain, gone for eighteen off ten, but Wolvaardt scooped and threw to wicketkeeper Mooney after Lanning had sent Kanwar’s opening ball towards point. Shafali then smashed three off Shabnam in the following over, before Lanning was run-out, sent back by her partner.
Alice Capsey was pulled out at mid-off for a four-ball duck off Kanwar seconds later, and the Giants would have been happy to remove her, making it 31 for 2. But Shafali didn’t stop there. She improved her six off Meghna over long-on with a magnificent 91-meter effort to start Gardner’s first over, and she finished it with another one down the ground.Â
After 10 overs, Gardner was hit for another Shafali punishment in her second over, taking the Capitals to 82 for 2 with a six over the fence and a four to the right of long-on.
Before Shafali reached her fifty with a four past extra cover, Jemimah Rodrigues lofted Mannat Kashyap over long-off for a six of her own. The runs continued coming, with Meghna giving away 20 runs off the 12th over as the Capitals got within ten of victory.
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Although Shafali finished with a magnificent 71 from just 37 balls, Rodrigues hit the winning four off Mannat through point. Shafali’s defiant four down the ground off Kanwar had them within one hit, but she was dismissed moments later while trying to finish it and picking out Litchfield at mid-off.
