WPL 2024: Dominant Delhi Capitals hands Gujarat Giants fourth straight loss
Ashleigh Gardner (two for 37 and 40, 31b, 5×4, 1×6) shone for Gujarat Giants, but Jess Jonassen (4-0-22-3) and Radha Yadav (4-0-20-3) dazzled to pilot Delhi Capitals to a 25-run win in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Sunday.
A spirited bowling effort helped DC pile on the Giant’s misery, as the Beth Mooney-side finished the Bengaluru-leg winless after only managing 138 for eight.
Defending 164, debutant Titas Sadhu announced her arrival with a maiden to Beth Mooney. Shikha Pandey cleaned up Laura Wolvaardt on a no score as both pacers started with maidens.
Jonassen then picked two in her first over, trapping Mooney in front before removing Phoebe Litchfield, who started to counter-attack.
Wickets kept tumbling, with Gardner waging a lone fight. GG slid to 73 for five when Radha sent Veda Krishnamurthy and Kathryn Bryce packing.
Gardner added 32 with Tanuja Kanwer for the sixth wicket before Jonassen ended the former’s resistance in the 14th over. Tanuja was then caught by Shafali Verma for Radha’s third wicket.
Sayali Ganesh Satghare, who came in at number nine, replaced Dayalan Hemalatha as the concussion substitute after the latter was hit on the head by the ball while fielding.
Earlier, Meg Lanning’s half-century took DC to 163 for eight in an innings where Meghna Singh starred with a four-fer.
Tanuja opened the bowling, but Shafali didn’t let the left-arm spinner settle down, hitting her for a four and a six. She could have had her revenge but missed a caught & bowled chance.
Meghna ensured that the drop wasn’t costly as she provided Giants the breakthrough, removing Shafali, who flicked straight to Wolvaardt at square leg.
The in-form Alice Capsey did not let the tempo slip as she took just four deliveries to hit her first boundary. The Englishwoman went to strike four more fours in her 17-ball cameo, adding a quick 38 for the second wicket with skipper Lanning before being caught by Kanwer off Meghna.
Lanning took over the run-scoring duties, allowing new batter Jemimah Rodrigues time to settle. She then switched gears and dealt in boundaries, pushing DC past 100 in the 13th over and reached fifty off 39 deliveries with a four.
Just when Lanning looked on course to put the game beyond Giants’ reach, Meghna struck again. Jemimah was the next to go, losing her wicket to Mannat Kashyap.
Wickets fell in quick succession as Gardner sent Jonassen and Arundhati Reddy packing while Kanwer ended Annabel Sutherland’s quick burst (20 off 12).
Meghna ended the innings with Radha’s scalp, but the Giants dropped four catches alongside their fourth straight loss.