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Capitals still ruling the WPL roost

cricket08 March 2024 08:17| © MWP
By:Ross Roche
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Delhi Capitals © @wplt20 (X)

After two weeks of Women’s Premier League (WPL) action the Delhi Capitals are still ruling the roost, sitting top of the table on net run rate ahead of the Mumbai Indians.

The Capitals lost their first game of the competition against Mumbai, but have since gone on a four-game winning run, including picking up two wins this week, as well as getting a bit of revenge on Mumbai by beating them in their most recent match.

In that game the Capitals batted first and amassed a big total of 192/4 thanks to an unbeaten 69 off 33 balls from Jemimah Rodrigues and 53 off 38 from the in-form Meg Lanning.

Mumbai could only respond with 163/8 to suffer a 29-run loss with Amanjot Kaur top scoring with 42, while Jess Jonassen, 3/21, was the star with the ball and was backed up well by Marizanne Kapp, 2/37.

The Capitals other win this week saw them beat the Gujarat Giants by 25 runs after they scored 163/8 batting first thanks largely to Lanning’s 55, while Meghna Singh picked up 4/37.

The Giants were then restricted to 138/8 as Ashleigh Gardner top scored with 40, but Radha Yadav, 3/20, and Jonassen, 3/22, dominated to help their side to a comfortable win.

The Capitals bowling department has been in superb form over the competition so far, with Jonassen topping the wicket taking stats with nine scalps in three games, while Yadav and Kapp sit tied second with eight wickets each in five and four games respectively.

On the batting front Lanning sits second on the scoring charts with 201 runs from five innings at an average of 40.2, while she has struck three half centuries.

The Capitals are on eight points and have a game in hand on four of the five teams below them on the log and will close out the pool stage with three games over the coming week before the knockouts.

For Mumbai they brushed off their second defeat of the WPL and bounced back with a thumping 42-run win over the UP Warriorz to rise back to second on the log.

They batted first and scored 160/6 with Nat Sciver-Brunt (45), Amelia Kerr (39) and Harmanpreet Kaur (33) the key contributors, before restricting the Warriorz to 118/9 which was only possible due to a lone hand from Deepti Sharma (53no), while Saika Ishaque, 3/27, and Sciver-Brunt, 2/14, were the pick of the bowlers.

In Mumbai’s other game in the week, they thrashed the Royal Challengers Bangalore by seven wickets after restricting them to 131/6 batting first with Ellyse Perry (40) the top scorer and Pooja Vastraka, 2/14, and Sciver-Brunt, 2/27, the top wicket takers.

Mumbai then cruised to the target in just 15.1 overs as the top four of Amelia Kerr (40no), Yastika Bhatia (31), Sciver-Brunt (27) and Hayley Matthews (26) all chipped in.

The Royale Challengers are third on the WPL log on six points, after they only won one of their three games this past week, by 23 runs over the Warriorz.

Batting first the Royal Challengers amassed 198/3 thanks largely to Smriti Mandhana (80) and Perry (58), while the Warriorz score 175/8 with Alyssa Healy (55) the top scorer, while Asha Sobhana, Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham and Sophie Devine all picked up two wickets each.

In their other game the Royal Challengers had another high scoring encounter but this time lost to the Giants by 19 runs after they batted first and scored 199/5 thanks to a 140-run opening partnership between Beth Mooney (85no) and Laura Wolvaardt (76).

The Royale Challengers then fell comfortably short due to none of their batters being able to kick on after getting starts, with Wareham (48) and Richa Ghosh (30) the top scorers and Gardner, 2/23, the top wicket taker as they ended on 180/8.

The other match in the week saw the fourth placed Warriorz pick up a comfortable six wicket win over the bottom of the log Giants.

The Giants batted first, scoring 142/5 with Phoebe Litchfield (35) and Gardner (30) top scoring, and Sophie Ecclestone, 3/20, spinning a web with the ball.

The Warriorz then cruised to 143/4 in 15.4 overs thanks to an entertaining unbeaten 60 from Grace Harris, while Healy scored 33 at the top of the order.

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