After losing two finals in a row, Meg Lanning’s Delhi Capitals were determined to get over the line this time and they started by stealing a win from under the noses of Mumbai to get their 2025 campaign away. Unfortunately, by the end of the campaign, another one which saw them make the Grand Finals, saw them fall short yet again as Meg Lanning’s girls have now had the unfortunate record of finishing runners-up in all three seasons of the Women’s Premier League.
Lanning though, was extremely proud of the group and made sure to let the Delhi Capitals camp know that even though they might be walking away with the silver medal, Lanning highlighted the environment built by the group over the course of these three years is something that should be commended.
“Extremely disappointing and not the result that we came here for tonight, but it’s certainly not through any lack of effort or want and desire from this group and sometimes it doesn’t pan out how you want it to. We’ve had an incredible three years really and I think the thing that sticks out to me is the environment that we’ve got here, playing group and staff, it’s one of the best that I’ve been involved in and everybody in this room is responsible for building that,” said Lanning.
After stealing a win from Mumbai Indians thanks to heroics from debutant and U19 WC winning captain Niki Prasad, Delhi fell to defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their second game. Desperate to get back to winning ways, Lanning led from the front with a score of 69 to get her team over the line against the UP Warriorz.
Delhi went down to the Warriorz in the reverse fixture in their next game, but Jess Jonassen had a field day, picking up 4/31 before a batting collapse let the Capitals down. Jemimah Rodrigues 56 was the only highlight as they got bundled out for 144 in a chase of 178. Following a mixed start to the season, Meg Lanning, Shafali Verma and Jess Jonassen finally found form as Delhi went on a three-match winning streak, beating Mumbai, Bengaluru and Gujarat comprehensively to see them go to the top of the table.
Lanning got a sublime 92 in the Capitals’ final league stage game, but a Harleen Deol special saw the Giants run away with a five-wicket win. Irrespective, Delhi had finished first in the league stage and made their way into their third Grand Final at the WPL.
It was their old rivals Mumbai Indians on the opposite side, who had beaten them in the WPL 2023 final and Marizanne Kapp and Shikha Pandey’s opening spell left Mumbai reeling at 20/2 at the end of the powerplay after putting Mumbai to bat. The stars seemed to be aligning for Delhi but Harmanpreet Kaur along with Nat Sciver-Brunt got Mumbai to a respectable total and a complete batting collapse saw Delhi manage 141 with only Marizanne Kapp and Rodrigues getting some runs for the Capitals.
Lanning reiterated the importance of team building in the camp and made sure her team were lifted up following a heart-breaking loss.
“Whilst we didn’t get the result, we wanted out there, I’m very proud of everybody here for the efforts that we’ve put in and as I said, you win some, you lose some. It wasn’t through lack of effort and sometimes and I think the relationships that we’ve built and the environment that we’ve built here is way more important than winning out there, so everybody should be very proud of that,” shared Lanning.
Shafali Verma finished as Delhi’s highest run-getter at WPL 2025 with 304 runs from 9 games at an average of 38 with Meg Lanning close behind with 276 runs at 34.50. Jess Jonassen was Delhi’s stand-out bowler with 13 wickets, finishing as the third highest wicket taker of the season while Shikha Pandey also had a strong season with 11 wickets. Lanning and Verma also, through the course of the season, became the WPL’s most successful pair with Lanning and Verma now third and fourth respectively in the list of most runs in the WPL.
Lanning, a multiple World Cup winner and Commonwealth champion as well, was singled out by her team for her exceptional leadership skills over the years, with Rodrigues sharing how much the team appreciated her leadership.
“I know it’s hard today but all I want to say is Meg, thank you for leading us these three years, the way you did, the way you stood strong, the way you’ve been consistent and just leading from the front,” said a grateful Jemimah Rodrigues.
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