Gujarat Giants 178 for five (Deol 70*, Mooney 44, Pandey 2-31, Jonassen 2-38) beat Delhi Capitals 177 for five (Lanning 92, Shafali 40, Meghna 3-35) by 5 wickets
By taking down the table-toppers who’re already within the playoffs, Giants overtook Mumbai Indians to go second on the factors desk with a greater NRR, though MI nonetheless have two video games in hand in comparison with Giants’ one. Giants’ win additionally meant it was the tip of the street for UP Warriorz, who cannot make it to the playoffs anymore. Giants and MI will now face-off in an important penultimate league recreation on March 10 in Mumbai.
The Giants chase was arrange by a gradual 44 from Mooney, a wonderfully-paced and unbeaten 70 off 49 from Deol and a power-packed 24 off 10 from Dottin earlier than Kashvee Gautam stole the present once they wanted 13 from seven.
Mooney and Deol lay the bottom
Giants aren’t recognized for his or her power-hitters on the high of the order they usually did not change their template even in a steep chase. They had been 15 for 1 after 4 overs as Mooney and Deol aimed to remain regular after the early lack of D Hemalatha, whose wretched run of type continued. Mooney went over the infield persistently to gather boundaries and it was the fifth over that kicked issues off for Giants. Deol acquired going with two fours in a 13-run over and repeated the feat within the subsequent over when she used the tempo of Annabel Sutherland to push the run price previous six because the powerplay ended.
With the asking price at an actual ten, Giants had a mountain to climb. Mooney made Deol run onerous between the wickets and when the duo collected 4 fours within the area of seven balls simply earlier than the midway mark, the chase was actually alive. Capitals had their forgettable second of fielding too when Deol, on 27, lofted Jess Jonassen down the bottom and Shafali went to her proper from long-off however the ball burst by means of her fingers and let go of an opportunity that probably value them the match.
The massive hits from the massive names
Giants had been handed an enormous blow when Mooney discovered Sutherland at long-off off Minnu Mani within the twelfth over, however that meant Capitals needed to attempt to constrain Giants’ massive hitters now. They usually could not. Gardner acquired off the mark with a 4 earlier than smashing a wonderful straight six off Marizanne Kapp that introduced the equation all the way down to 73 off 43 which quickly turned 66 off 36.
Deol then acquired a second life, on 45, when Sutherland failed to carry on to a return catch. Gardner unleashed one other six, this day off a Sutherland slower ball over midwicket. Deol introduced up her first WPL fifty since 2023, off 38 balls, with a boundary to level; and regardless that Gardner holed out for 22, Dottin and Deol smashed back-to-back sixes to make it 36 off 23. The Capitals quicks took tempo off the ball, introduced Jonassen again however nothing helped. Dottin smoked Jonassen for 4, 6 and 4 to totally different components of the leg-side boundary that shrunk the equation to 16 off 14.
Capitals thought they’d an opportunity when Jonassen completed the over with the wickets of Dottin and Phoebe Litchfield, earlier than Shikha Pandey gave away simply two off 5 balls of the nineteenth over, however Gautam dispatched a size ball over large long-on. Deol adopted it with a 4 earlier than Gautam hit the profitable runs.
One other Lanning and Shafali half-century stand
Shafali Verma and Meg Lanning added 83 off 54 balls•BCCI
Lanning continued to pepper the boundaries on both aspect off the entrance foot as Giants continued to pitch the ball up. Shafali acquired a life on 15 when Tanuja Kanwar could not maintain on to a return catch within the sixth over regardless of a full-length dive. She seemed much more assured with two sixes after the powerplay however holed out for 40 off 37 to deep midwicket the place Phoebe Litchfield accomplished a well-judged catch.
One other Lanning masterclass
Lanning, in the meantime, struck seven fours within the powerplay and continued to punish Giants for his or her lapses. There was motion on the different finish too – Shafali’s wicket was adopted by Jonassen’s when she missed a swinging yorker from Dottin, quickly after the batter had survived a stumping likelihood.
Simply earlier than that, Giants had additionally given Lanning a life when Deol virtually clung to a juggling try after a perfectly-timed leap at mid-off firstly of the twelfth over. Deol leapt straight as much as intercept the ball together with her proper hand, tried a left-handed seize after which even caught the ball with each fingers whereas rotating however the ball popped out when she landed on her elbows. And because the cliché goes, Lanning rubbed salt on the injuries with a wonderful inside-out six over the covers for her 34-ball fifty.
Giants’ sloppiness wasn’t achieved for the day although. Quickly after Jemimah Rodrigues fell for 4, Lanning might have been run-out on 63 when a mix-up with Sutherland meant Lanning was terribly late on reaching the bowler’s finish. However a wayward throw mixed with Priya Mishra’s failed try to gather the ball prolonged Lanning’s keep.
She subsequent punished Kanwar for 2 fours within the 18th over and Dottin for an additional pair of boundaries within the final over. Lanning was on 92 with two balls left within the innings however missed out on turning into the WPL’s first ever centurion as she was bowled by a Dottin legcutter. Sarah Bryce carved the final ball for a six that gave Capitals a complete that was sturdy however not sufficient.
Vishal Dikshit is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo