WPL 2023: All-round Delhi Capitals thrash Mumbai Indians by 9 wickets, go on top of points table

On a slow pitch which had some help for the fast bowlers, Marizanne Kapp, Shikha Pandey and Jess Jonassen picked two wickets each while Jemimah Rodrigues had two outstanding catches to her name in keeping Mumbai to a below-par 109/8.

Barring a 37-run partnership off 29 balls between captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Pooja Vastrakar, there wasn't much of note from Mumbai's batting. In reply, powerful 30s from Meg Lanning, Shafali Verma and Alice Capsey helped Delhi complete the chase in just nine overs.

Finishing the chase off early has propelled Delhi to now be top of the points table and go past Mumbai in terms of Net Run Rate. Marizanne's superb show began in the third over when she got one to slant across Yastika Bhatia and nicked behind to wicketkeeper Taniyaa Bhatia. On the very next ball, she got one to nip in from outside the off-stump and knocked over the bails of Nat Sciver-Brunt.

Harmanpreet averted the Marizanne hat-trick ball with a solid forward defence and opened the bat face late on the very next ball to guide it past the slip cordon for a boundary. But wickets continued to fall for Mumbai from the other end.

Hayley Matthews tried to whip a length ball from Shikha in the fourth over. But Jemimah timed her dive to the right side to perfection and completed a screamer of a low catch. Arundhati Reddy then got the ball to nip away off the seam in the seventh over and took the outside edge of Amelia Kerr's drive to go into the gloves of Taniyaa.

Harmanpreet and Pooja launched Mumbai's fightback in the 10th over against leg-spinner Poonam Yadav. While Harmanpreet swept through square leg to get Mumbai's first boundary in five overs, Pooja was glorious in her inside-out drive over extra cover for four and ended the over with a loft over long-on for six.

Pooja then walked down the pitch to hit Shikha over in-field in the off-side, before slapping one over mid-off for collecting two fours in the eleventh over. Her sparkling knock came to an end in the next over when she holed out to long-on off Jess's left-arm spin.

Harmanpreet whacked a low full toss from Shikha through the square leg in the 15th over. But in a bid to slog through leg-side on the next ball, she was caught at deep mid-wicket. Amanjot Kaur injected some momentum in the chase by pulling and sweeping Radha Yadav for back-to-back fours in the 16th over.

Delhi continued to maintain pressure by conceding mainly singles and dot balls in the last three overs. It resulted in Issy Wong going for a big heave off Jess in the final over. But she could only slice it to extra cover, followed by Amanjot's run-out on the last ball of Mumbai's innings.

In chasing 110, Meg and Shafali dealt exclusively in boundaries, reaching the half-century mark in just four overs. Meg began with a drive past mid-off and brought out her trademark square cut against Nat in the opening over.

Shafali was in a cat-and-mouse battle with Issy in the second over, but managed to pull, chip and drive to take three boundaries. Nat came under more attack as Meg and Shafali took a four each through the leg side.

While Meg got a four off Saika Ishaque through a misfield by point, Shafali danced down the pitch to loft over mid-off, before driving between extra cover and mid-off to make it three boundaries off the fourth over.

Shafali welcomed Hayley with a smack over deep mid-wicket for six in the fifth over. But on the third ball, Hayley had the last laugh by deceiving Shafali with flight and getting her stumped for 33.

Despite that setback, there was no stopping Delhi as Meg ended the Power-play with a superb wristy flick over deep mid-wicket for six off Issy. Post Power-play, Alice upped the ante by hitting Hayley for sixes on both sides of 'v' and straight down the ground. In frustration, the off-spinner sent down a bouncer which evaded everyone and went for four byes.

Alice had more fun when she danced down the pitch to smash Saika down the ground for six at the start of the ninth over. She then cut hard through extra cover and got a boundary courtesy of a misfield, followed by smacking high over deep mid-wicket for six.

A fumble at the cover on the last ball of the over allowed Meg and Alice to go for the second run and complete a chase with 11 overs to spare, with the duo unbeaten on 32 and 38 respectively.

Brief scores:

Mumbai Indians 109/8 in 20 overs (Pooja Vastrakar 26, Issy Wong 23; Marizanne Kapp 2-13, Shikha Pandey 2-21) lost to Delhi Capitals 110/1 in 9 overs (Alice Capsey 38 not out, Shafali Verma 33; Hayley Matthews 2-27) by nine wickets

--IANS

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( 878 Words)

2023-03-20-23:04:03 (IANS)