Delhi became the 2nd state after Bengal (Bengal Women’s Pro T20 League) to launch a franchise league for women. Coined as the Women’s Delhi Premier League is launched with the purpose of unearthing a talented pool of players from the grassroots levels in Delhi. A 13-year-old young left-arm speedster Anshu Nagar making her professional debut representing the South Delhi Superstars caught everyone’s attention with her speed and consistency in her potentially match-winning spell.
The inaugural edition commenced on 2nd September 2024 and will conclude on 8th September 2024. A total of four teams namely, South Delhi Superstars, Central Delhi Queens, North Delhi Strikers, and East Delhi Riders participated in the inaugural edition of the tournament. All the matches will be played in a single round-robin format. The top two teams will qualify for the final. All the matches of the tournament will be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
East Delhi Riders, led by skipper Priya Punia who also represented India at the International level, is still in the scheme of things in the national setup. They were up against the South Delhi Superstars in the tournament opener at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The East Delhi Riders skipper Priya Punia won the toss and opted to bat first. Opting to bat first, they posted a total of 114/8 in their quota of 20 overs.
Pratika Rawal (41 off 38 balls), Saachi (20 off 28 balls), and Madhu (15 off 7 balls) were the top performers with the bat for East Delhi Riders. The 13-year-old left-arm pacer Anshu Nagar (3-0-8-2) was the stand-out performer with the ball alongside Medhavi Bidhuri (4-0-20-3), and Aarti Kumari (4-0-24-1) were the top performers with the ball for South Delhi Superstars.
Chasing a target of 115, South Delhi Superstars were restricted to 103/6 in their quota of overs, falling short of the target by 11 runs. Riya Soni (32 off 29 balls), skipper Shweta Sehrawat (25 off 30 balls), and Medhavi Bidhuri (12 off 11 balls) were the top performers with the bat for South Delhi Superstars. Madhu (4-0-19-2), Mallika Khatri (4-0-16-0), and Saachi (3-0-19-2) were the stand-out performers with the ball for East Delhi Riders.
The 13-year-old left-arm speedster stole the show with her sensational spell on her professional debut in the Women’s Delhi Premier League tournament opener despite ending up on the losing side.