In match 14 of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 between the finalists from the season of 2024, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru clashed at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru in the last game of the second leg of the tournament.
For the Delhi Capitals, N. Charani made her WPL debut and finished with 2 wickets in the bag, making a key impact in restricting the Challengers at 147 for the loss of 5 wickets. The 20-year-old conceded 28 runs from her 4 overs quota and kept things tight towards the fag end of the innings to prevent the opposition from crossing the 150-run mark.
Charani’s double strike in the 17th over of the game took the oscillating pendulum in the favour of the table toppers. She first bowled a juicy delivery to a well-set Raghvi Bist that provoked her to milk the delivery towards her front. However, she was beaten on the outside edge and was left beaten up as she danced to the middle of the pitch, making it an easy stumping chance for wicket-keeper Sarah Bryce.
On the second-last delivery of her third over, Charani bowled an immaculate tossed up ball on the off stump and as Richa Ghosh went down on her back knee to clear the on-side of the ground, she only got a big edge which looped the ball high in the air towards the cover region. Skipper Meg Lanning made no mistake in judging the ball and caught it sharply to dismiss the ever-dangerous Richa Ghosh on a score of 5.
The young player has been a brilliant performer for Andhra Pradesh in domestic cricket, and in the Women’s Under-23 T20 Trophy, delivered key spells with her traditional left-arm orthodox bowling. She was appreciated with 12 wickets in just six games, maintaining a remarkable average of 7.91. Her disciplined trajectory was evident in her economy rate of 3.95, while a strike rate of 12 demonstrated her knack for breaking crucial partnerships.
On the auction table, Delhi Capitals secured the services of the 20-year-old at INR 55 lakh, edging past Mumbai Indians in the hammer-battle (base price – INR 10 lakh).
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