Delhi Capitals started off the Women’s Premier League 2024 with a dramatic loss to Mumbai Indians where the latter’s Sajeevan Sajana smashed a last-ball six. That was the first and the only loss for the Meg Lanning-led side. In the five matches played so far, the Capitals have won four with a comfortable margin, leading to the top of the table.
Lanning, who retired from international cricket last year with seven World Cup titles, is now showcasing her prowess in WPL. From powerplay decisions to on-field placements, she has been a wizard on the ground. She is the second-highest run-scorer (201) of the tournament, only behind Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Smriti Mandhana. With most fifties and most runs for the team, she’s an exemplary leader of the pack.
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With Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey and Jemimah Rodrigues in good form, the batting department is quite sorted for the Delhi side. But the X-factor lies in their all-rounders. In four wins, three ‘Player of the Match’ awards have been presented to Marizanne Kapp and Jess Jonassen for their fancy batting and bowling performances. With nine wickets, Jonassen is leading the Purple Cap race followed by Kapp (eight). In their last outing against Mumbai Indians, the Kapp-Jonassen duo scalped five wickets, adding icing on the cake after terrific batting from Lanning and Rodrigues.
DC will now aim to secure the top position and directly qualify for the final while UP Warriorz will be scratching their heads to make a place in the qualifiers. With the recent 43-run loss against Mumbai Indians, the road to the final stages looks blurry and bleak.
The middle order has been a major disappointment with constant batting failures from Shweta Sehrawat, Tahila McGrath and Chamari Athapaththu. In the last match against MI, Deepti Sharma scored her maiden WPL fifty but not enough to conceal the batting collapse. UPW were 17/3 at the end of the powerplay and completely lost the track thereafter. Five were out bowled, including the in-form Healy, Grace Harris and Kiran Navgire. The skipper also admitted the failure of batters along with fielding fumbles.
On average, UPW have dropped two catches in every match. In the last game, they dropped three, giving two lives to Amelia Kerr. In the last Bengaluru fixture against RCB, they gave Smriti Mandhana life on 28 and 29, where she went on to score 80 off 50. UPW now have just a night’s time to recover, re-plan and bounce back in the game. They will need to pull off a victory against DC to survive or else the title will stay in dreams.
What: DC vs UPW, WPL 2024, Match no. 15
When: March 8 (Friday)
Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
Start Time: 7:30 PM IST
DC Team News
Marizanne Kapp came back in for Annabel Sutherland and scalped two wickets in the last encounter with MI. Therefore, DC might go ahead with the same winning combination.
DC Likely XI:
Meg Lanning (C), Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen, Arundhati Reddy, Taniya Bhatia (WK), Titas Sadhu, Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav
UPW Team News
UPW included wicketkeeper-batter Uma Chetry in the XI against MI in place of Anjali Sarvani. Chetry was signed as an interim injury replacement for opener Vrinda Dinesh who had hurt her shoulder while fielding against MI in Bengaluru. Although she managed only 8 off 10 with the bat, UPW might give her another chance against DC. Also, with Athapaththu’s continuous dismal show with the bat, the team might go back to Tahila McGrath.
UPW Likely XI:
Alyssa Healy (C&WK), Kiran Navgire, Tahila McGrath, Grace Harris, Shweta Sehrawat, Deepti Sharma, Poonam Khemnar, Uma Chhetry, Sophie Ecclestone, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Saima Thakor
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