A four-wicket haul by spinner Radha Yadav and a fiery powerplay spell by all-rounder Marizanne Kapp helped the Delhi Capitals restrict UP Warriorz to just 119/9 in 20 overs of the fourth Women's Premier League (WPL) encounter at Bengaluru on Monday.
DC needs to chase down 120 runs to get their first win of the tournament. Put into bat first by Delhi Capitals, the Warriorz had a disappointing start as all-rounder Marizanne Kapp shook UPW's top order with three quick wickets. She removed Vrinda Dinesh for a duck and followed it up with the wicket of star Australian cricketer Tahlia McGrath for just one. Skipper Alyssa Healy was looking good, having smashed a couple of boundaries, but Kapp had her caught by Shafali Varma for 15-ball 13. UPW was 16/3 in five overs. Grace Harris and Shweta Sehrawat started to rebuild for UPW after three quick wickets. At the end of six overs of the powerplay, UPW was at 21/3. Just when it seemed UPW was taking control, Radha Yadav struck, removing Grace for 17 off 18 balls, with two fours. Shafali took another catch and UPW were 40/4 in 9.5 overs. Halfway through the innings, UPW was 40/4. UPW reached the 50-run mark in 11.3 overs. Radha's spin put another dent on UPW's batting as she caught and bowled Kiran Navgire for just 10 runs off seven balls. UPW was 57/5 in 12 overs. Shweta and Poonam Khemnar eased off some pressure with three boundaries in Shikha Pandey's 14th over, which gave away 14 runs. Shweta and Poonam's promising partnership was cut short at 29 runs, with Poonam caught by Shikha at short fine leg for just 10 runs of nine balls. Arundhati Reddy got the wicket. UPW was 86/6 in 14.5 overs. UPW reached the 100-run mark in 17.2 overs as Shweta smoked Annabel Sutherland for three boundaries. However, a stumping from Taniya ended Shweta's resilience at 45 in 42 balls, with five fours and a six. UPW was 109/7 in 17.4 overs. Sutherland got Deepti Sharma for just five runs with a catch from Kapp and lastly, Radha completed her four-wicket haul by removing Sophie Ecclestone for just six. UPW ended their innings at 119/9 in their 20 overs. Radha (4/20) and Kapp (3/5) broke the back of UPW batting with their economical, wicket-heavy spells. (ANI)
|