Delhi Capitals finished the WPL 2024 league stage with a seven-wicket victory over Gujarat Giants and a direct ticket to the championship match thanks to their outstanding performance. With two wickets each from Marizanne Kapp, Minnu Mani, and Shikha Pandey, the Giants were bowled out for 126. Thanks to Shafali Verma’s 37-ball 71, which featured seven fours and five sixes, and Jemimah Rodrigues’s 38 not out off 28, the Capitals reached the goal in just 13.1 overs.
With six wins out of eight, the Caps emerged victorious in the points table, while the Giants, who only managed two triumphs, took home the wooden spoon for the second consecutive season. The Capitals are waiting to find out who will advance from the March 15 Eliminator match between the Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Mani and Kapp are in first place.
In a batting lineup that is heavily reliant on foreign players, Beth Mooney and Laura Wolvaardt have been leading the Giants’ offensive attack this season. Since players like Ashleigh Gardner and Phoebe Litchfield haven’t been performing well in the competition, the openers have had more of an obligation to perform, which they have over the past few games. However, a misplay by both of them in the league stage final revealed their middle order, which resulted in a collapse. Dayalan Hemalatha, who had also played well lately, was caught off guard by Jess Jonassen’s low score during the powerplay, and Marizanne Kapp took the purple cap after accounting for both of the openers. After reaching just 23 in the powerplay, the Giants fell to 16/3 in the fifth over. After the Giants were reduced to 48/5 in the eleventh over, Minnu Mani, who had taken the place of Titas Sadhu, ensured another blowout for Gardner and Litchfield fell off the same bowler after hitting a six.
With 126, how did the Giants end up?
It was mostly due to Bharati Fulmali, who scored 42 off of 36 balls and partnered with Kathryn Bryce for 68 runs. In Kapp’s last over, Fulmali, who was on 2 off 5, hit a couple of boundaries to get the crowd going. A four apiece from Bryce and Fulmali off Radha Yadav preceded Shikha Pandey’s several runs. When Bryce hit Arundhati Reddy for a four in the seventeenth over, the half-century stand was broken. After hitting seven fours in a row, Pandey bowled Fulmali in the last over, and Tanuja Kanwar was bowled next. The Giants finished their innings stronger than they had begun, thanks to two fours from Jonassen despite Shabnam Shakil and Meghna Singh being run out in the final over.
DC gets off to a good start in their pursuit
Shakil’s placid first over of three runs was only a calm before the storm made landfall on the Giants. This time, Meg Lanning took command, striking four fours off Bryce in the second over and three boundaries off Shakil in the third over to help the Capitals overwhelm the opposition in the chase. Luckily for the Giants, Verma declined a quick single, and Alice Capsey was out for a three-ball duck off Kanwar, resulting in Lanning being run out. However, DC closed the powerplay strongly, moving to 45/2 when Verma hit a six off Meghna and Rodrigues got a four off Kanwar.
And it was quickly over…
Verma attacked Gardner after the powerplay, hitting three sixes and a four in the two overs the Australian bowled, which resulted in a run total of 28. This came after Verma had been given a reprieve by Kanwar, who had put down a catch off her own bowling. Verma hit a four in the same over to raise the score to a 28-ball fifty, and Rodrigues also got in on the action, hitting a maximum off Mannat Kashyap. Meghna gave up 20 runs in the 12th over, two of which were fours from Rodrigues and one each from Verma and a six. Before having to leave the pitch in an attempt to play a glory shot, she also struck a boundary off Kanwar in the thirteenth over. The Capitals finished the league stage with a massive lead over the Giants because to a winning boundary from Rodrigues in the fourteenth over.
Brief scores: Delhi Capitals 129/3 in 13.1 overs (Shafali Verma 71, Jemimah Rodrigues 38*; Tanuja Kanwar 2-20) defeated Gujarat Giants 126/9 in 20 overs (Bharati Fulmali 42, Kathryn Bryce 28; Minnu Mani 2-9, Marizanne Kapp 2-17) by 7 wickets.
