Alice Capsey produced a fabulous all-round display, snaring three wickets and smashing a 31-ball 34 as Delhi Capitals thrashed UP Warriorz by five wickets to directly qualify for the final of the Women’s Premier League here on Tuesday. Chasing a 139-run target, built around Tahila McGrath’s 32-ball unbeaten 58, DC romped home scoring 142 for five in 17.5 overs to finish at the top of the table, toppling Mumbai Indians on the basis of better net run rate. With Delhi grabbing a direct spot in the final, Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz will now face off in the eliminator for the other final spot.
“Just wanted the team to win and help the unit. I don’t think we were at our best. We were sloppy on the field. It was a reasonable wicket. We got off to a flier and helped us when it started to turn,” DC skipper Meg Lanning said.
“It seemed it came nicely with the new ball. They bowled a fair bit of spin towards the back end. We got some depth in batting. We have one big game to go. Hopefully, we will nail that.” MI had defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by four wickets earlier in the day, leaving DC with the task of not only winning against UPW but also maintaining a better run-rate to directly book their final spot.
Meg Lanning and Co did just that as they restricted UPW to a modest 138 for six after winning the toss and opting to bowl.
Chasing, the opening pair of Lanning and Shafali Verma then went on a boundary hitting spree as they knocked off 56 runs off 29 balls.
If Lanning set the ball rolling with three fours and a six in a 20-run first over off Shabnim Ismail, Shafali had four hits to the fence in her 16-ball 21-run cameo.
Once Shafali was holed out to Soppadhandi Yashasri off Sophie Ecclestone’s bowling, Ismail returned to trap Jemimah Rodrigues and then removed Lanning, who was caught by Simran Shaikh in the deep, as suddenly DC slumped to 70 for three.
UPW tried to tighten the screws but Capsey produced three boundaries in four balls off Ecclestone to keep DC in the hunt.
Parshavi Chopra was then deposited over the fence before Capsey slog swept Deepti Sharma past the mid-wicket area for another boundary as DC brought up their 100 in 12 overs.
Marizanne Kapp (34 not out off 31) smashed another maximum as DC reached 130 for three in 16 overs.
Ecclestone managed to sent back Capsey after two balls, while a mix-up cost Jess Jonassen’s wicket but Kapp kept her cool to hit the winning runs.
Earlier, McGrath blasted eight boundaries and two sixes after skipper Alyssa Healy (36 off 34) provided the platform to push UP Warriorz’s total closer to the 140-mark.
Capsey scalped three quick wickets conceding just seven runs in her first three overs but McGrath changed her bowling figures with a 19-run blitz in the final over.
For DC, Radha Yadav (2/28) and Jess Jonassen (1/24) were the other wicket takers.
Shweta Sehrawat provided UPW a flying start as she hit four boundaries during her 12-ball 19 before being dismissed in the fifth over.
Healy then took over, even as new batter Simran Shaikh struggled to find the gaps.
Healy cracked a six off Radha in the eighth over, before using her feet against Shikha Pandey for a boundary but she lacked rhythm.
Looking to break the shackles, Healy was stumped in the 10th over when she danced down to Capsey.
The Delhi bowlers kept a good line and length and soon Simran’s struggle was over when she was caught by Rodrigues.
McGrath then slowly built her innings but kept losing partners from the other end.
She smashed three boundaries as the 14th over yielded 14 runs.
Jess Jonassen then had Kiran Navgire stumped, while Capsey deceived Deepti Sharma with a flighted delivery as Tania Bhatia took off the bails in a flash.
Bhatia was kept busy as next it was the turn of Sophie Ecclestone, who too was stumped after she tried to use her feet as UPW slipped to 105 for six in 18 overs.
McGrath clobbered Jonassen for a four and six in the last two balls of the 19th over before repeating the treatment to Capsey, who conceded two fours and a six as UPW finished things on a high.
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