Pacers, Minnu Mani, and Shafali Verma’s onslaught power Delhi Capitals into the final of WPL 2024.
With a comprehensive 7-wicket victory for RCB in their last game of the season against Mumbai Indians, they sealed their spot for the knockout stages of the tournament. Gujarat Giants led by skipper Beth Mooney clinched the last game against UP Warriorz by eight runs. The Delhi Capitals on the other hand led by skipper Meg Lanning clinched an edge-of-the-seat thriller by one run against RCB.
As far as the head-to-head record between these two teams is concerned, the Delhi Capitals have the upper hand (2-1) over Gujarat Giants. The Gujarat Giants skipper Beth Mooney won the toss and opted to bat first. The Giants got off to a poor start losing their top order inside the powerplay. Ashleigh Gardner joined Phoebe Litchfield at the crease with their side in trouble at 16/3 in the 5th over of the innings.
The duo stitched a 23-run partnership for the 4th wicket before Minnu Mani cleaned up Ashleigh Gardner to provide the 4th breakthrough for her side. Phoebe Litchfield soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 5th breakthrough for Delhi Capitals. Kathryn Bryce joined Bharti Fulmali at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 68-run partnership for the 6th wicket to take their team over the 100-run mark before Shikha Pandey struck twice in two balls to pull things back for the Delhi Capitals.
Gujarat Giants eventually ended up with a total of 126/9 in their quota of overs. Bharti Fulmali (42 off 36 balls), Kathryn Bryce (28 off 22 balls), and Phoebe Litchfield (21 off 22 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Gujarat Giants. Marizanne Kapp (4-0-17-2), Shikha Pandey (4-0-23-2), and Minnu Mani (2-0-9-2) were the top performers with the ball for Delhi Capitals.
Chasing a target of 127, the Delhi Capitals openers Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma got off to a flying start, scoring over 10 runs an over before Tanuja Kanwer struck in the 4th over of the run chase that included the big wicket of the opposition skipper Meg Lanning who was found short of her crease before she dismissed Alice Capsey for a duck to provide a double breakthrough for Gujarat Giants in the powerplay.
Jemimah Rodrigues joined Shafali Verma at the crease, and the duo stitched a massive 94-run partnership for the 3rd wicket to take the Delhi Capitals to the brink of victory before Tanuja Kanwer picked up the wicket of Shafali Verma to provide the 3rd breakthrough, a little too late for Gujarat Giants. Marizanne Kapp joined Jemimah Rodrigues at the crease, and Jemimah Rodrigues finished the run chase in style for Delhi Capitals with a boundary.
Shafali Verma (71 off 37 balls), Jemimah Rodrigues (38 off 28 balls), and skipper Meg Lanning (18 off 10 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Delhi Capitals. Tanuja Kanwer (4-1-20-2) was the top performer with the ball and the only wicket-taker for Gujarat Giants. Shafali Verma was awarded the Player of the Match for her outstanding innings (71 off 37 balls) with the bat, playing a crucial role in helping the Delhi Capitals finish on top of the points table and as a result, earning a direct qualification into the final of WPL 2024 on 17th March 2024.