 "WPL 2023, Delhi Capitals' Road to Final: Magnificent Meg leads the way")
Delhi Capitals have looked like the team to beat as they have been relentless in their approach. While Shafali Verma has gone all-out, skipper Meg Lanning has played it according to the situation and accelerated when required. Lanning is the leading run scorer in the tournament.
Likewise, their bowling lineup is also full of players who believe in doing it from the word go and Tara Norris being able to play as the fifth foreigner thanks to her representing associate nation USA, has helped the Capitals’ cause as well. All this has led them to reach the final. Here’s how their road to the final has been.
Norris’ five-wicket haul flattens Bangalore
The Capitals were brilliant with the bat and thanks to a dazzling performance by their openers, they reached 223-2 in their 20 overs. While Shafali made 84, Lanning scored 72. Later in the innings, Norris’ five-wicket haul bulldozed all the RCB hopes and gave Delhi a scintillating 60-run win to start off their campaign.
200 on the trot give Delhi another victory
In the second game in a row, the team in blue and red crossed the 200 mark. This time around their leader, Lanning scored 70 and was helped by the cameos from Jemimah Rodriguez and Jess Jonassen.
Chasing 212 was always going to be tough and even after a valiant 90* from Tahlia McGrath, UP Warriorz fell short by 42 runs.
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Saika Ishaque too hot to handle for the Capitals
The Delhi team tasted its first defeat against the Mumbai Indians who bowled them out for 105 in 18 overs. This was shocking given that the Capitals had crossed the 200 mark in their previous two encounters. Saika Ishaque did most of the damage to Delhi as she got rid of both Lanning and Verma. Mumbai chased down the total pretty easily as well.
Kapp’s five-for put Delhi back on track
After the defeat against Mumbai, the team representing India’s capital city were back on track as they restricted Gujarat Giants to a meagre 105/9 thanks to a five-wicket haul by Marizanne Kapp. Chasing an easy target such as that was never going to be difficult for the Capitals as they did it in just 7.1 overs, with all 10 wickets intact. Verma reached her fifty in just 19 balls and scored a 28-ball 76*.
Jonassen wins a thriller for Delhi
The Capitals faced Bangalore once again and this time around the match got a little tense as Delhi needed 24 off the last three overs and a new batter in Jess Jonassen was at the crease. However, the Aussie kept her calm and helped the Capitals chase down the total with a ball to spare. She scored 29 off just 15 balls and was named Player of the Match.
Giants beat the Capitals
The Aussie captain of the Capitals faced her second defeat when her team were not able to chase 148 and Gujarat Giants earned their second victory of the tournament. Alice Capsey and Marizanne Kapp were run out and they were the only two batters that looked like going somewhere with the chase. The women in blue and red finished 136 all out in 18.4 overs, losing the game by 11 runs with 8 balls to spare.
Comeback win against Mumbai, Capsey wins it against UP
After the loss to the Giants, the Lanning-led unit needed to win two in the remaining two games to get themselves in contention to make it to the final directly. They faced tough opposition in Mumbai in the first of the two games and stopped them at 109/8 in the 20 overs. Chasing that was too easy and the Capitals won the game by nine wickets with 11 overs to spare.
The win against Mumbai pushed the Capitals’ net run rate to the sky and all they needed to do was win their last game against UP and reach the final. They did exactly that. Alice Capsey put up an all-round show, picking three wickets and scoring 34 off just 31 balls. More importantly, she did not let Sophie Ecclestone settle down.