Bengaluru, Feb 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) Jess Jonassen hammered her maiden half-century as Delhi Capitals capitalized on superb bowling by their pacers to beat Gujarat Giants by six wickets in their Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 match at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Tuesday.
Chasing a below-par target of 128, Jonassen made the most of being promoted to bat at No.3 as she blazed to 61 not out off 32 balls while Shafali Verma struck a 27-ball 44 to help Delhi Capitals reach 131/4 in 15.1 overs to win the match with 29 balls to spare.
It was their bowlers who made the victory possible as Marizanne Kapp and Shikha Pandey both claimed a couple of wickets in an over each to land early blows while Annabel Sutherland bagged two in the middle overs as Gujarat Giants were restricted to a modest 127/9 despite a late charge by Bharti Fulmani, who struck 40 not out off 29 balls.
Delhi thus won their third match of the season and moved to the top of the table with a convincing win after they put Gujarat Giants in to bat first.
DC’s chase got off to a poor start as skipper Meg Lanning was castled by young Kashvee Gautam for three. However, Shafali Verma and Jonassen raised 74 runs for the second wicket partnership to put Delhi Capitals on the road to victory.
With the ball holding a bit and staying low, Shafali played cautiously in the first couple of overs before pulling, lofting, and hammering some rasping shots in a fine display of power-hitting and blasted a 27-ball 44. She struck Deandra Dottin for a four and six and got a decision caught-behind decision overturned via DRS. She also hammered Priya Sharma for an inside-out six over extra cover and blasted Ash Gardner for a six and four in the 10th over. Gardner had the last laugh as she trapped lbw and got the decision despite a low-key appeal. This time Shafali could not get it overturned by DRS.
Jonassen, who built her innings cautiously at the other end, went from strength to strength as the Australian all-rounder creamed boundaries off Dottin, Gardner, two off successive balls, Meghna Singh, and Kashvee as she made the most of the couple of chances she survived.
Though Delhi Capitals lost Jemimah Rodrigues (5) and Annabel Sutherland (1), Marizanne Kapp (9 not out) and Jonassen saw them through to victory.
Earlier, the pacers ruled the day for Delhi Capitals with Kapp claiming 2-17, Shikha Pandey bagging 2-18 and the experienced Sutherland taking 2-20 as they capitalized on the slight green tinge on the fresh pitch and the seaming conditions.
Bharati Fulmani hammered two sixes, the only two maximums of the innings, and four boundaries in her 29-ball 40 not out to give them some hope and respectability to the Gujarat Giants total.
The move to promote Harleen Deol (5,10b 1×4) to the opener’s slot did not work for Gujarat Giants as Kapp sent her back in the fourth over, getting her to edge behind to keeper Sarah Bryce for five, Kapp struck again two balls later when she removed Phoebe Litchfield (0) as Gujarat Giants slump to 16/2.
Shikha Pandey struck two more blows in the next over, getting Beth Mooney (10, 11b,2×4), and Kashvee Gautam (2) caught in the deep by Niki Prasad off successive balls. Though she failed to get the hat-trick, the damage was already done as Gujarat Giants were reduced to 20/4. They ended the power-play at 31/4.
Gujarat Giants did not recover much from those early jolts despite Deandra Dottin hitting a few lusty blows in scoring 26 off 24 balls, hitting five boundaries as she raised Giants’ hopes.
But Titas Sadhu bowled skipper Ashleigh Gardner (3) and Sutherland castled Dottin as GG were reeling at 60/6 halfway through their innings.
Fulmani then got into the act as she and Tanuja Kanwar (16 off 24, 1×4) raised 51 runs for the seventh wicket to take Gujarat past the 100-run mark. But total miscommunication between them resulted in Kanwar getting run out.
Fulmani continued to wage a lone battle as she managed to take her team past 120, ending the match with a four off the final delivery.
Both Gujarat Giants and Delhi Capitals came into the match after losing their last matches. But the Capitals now need to score 128 runs to return to winning ways.
Brief scores:
Gujarat Giants 127/9 in 20 overs (Bharti Fulmani 40 not out; Marizanne Kapp 2-17, Shikha Pandey 2-18, Annabel Sutherland 2-20) lost to Delhi Capitals 131/4 in 15.1 overs (Shafali Verma 44, Jess Jonassen 61 not out; Kashvee Gautam 2-26) by six wickets.
Source: IANS
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