Delhi Capitals made life more miserable for winless Gujarat Giants, languishing at the bottom of the five-team Women's Premier League (WPL) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday. The Meg Lanning-led side posted a 25-run victory to go to the top of the points table while GG were left with no point after four defeats in a row.
Lanning, opening the batting for DC, struck a 41-ball 55 (6x4, 1x6) to lift last edition's runners-up to 163/8. Gujarat pacer Meghna Singh took three of the first four wickets (4/37), but her side were still left to chase down a challenging target. Though GG fared well in bowling compared to previous games, dropped catches pushed them on to the back foot Chasing the target, they were restricted to 138/8.
Australia's Ashleigh Gardener (40 - 31b, 5x4, 1x6) did raise GG's hopes in the chase but left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen ended her stay at the wicket, having her stumped by Taniya Bhatia.
The 31-year-old Jonassen (3/22) made the most of the outing, taking three crucial wickets, the left-arm spinner proving her mettle in T20. GG batters failed to make use of the chance to make a match out of it. Left-arm spinner Radha Yadav too wove a web around GG batters, taking 3/20.
Choosing to bowl, captain Beth Mooney would have hoped her bowlers would restrict DC. Meghna impressed, removing Shafali Verma (13), Alice Capsey (27) and Lanning. The DC skipper, leading from the front, could have been out on 30 to spinner Mannat Kashyap's bowling but was dropped by Kathryn Bryce. Capsey made a 17-ball 27 while Annabel Sutherland chipped in with a 12-ball 20 to provide impetus to the DC innings.
{{/usCountry}}Choosing to bowl, captain Beth Mooney would have hoped her bowlers would restrict DC. Meghna impressed, removing Shafali Verma (13), Alice Capsey (27) and Lanning. The DC skipper, leading from the front, could have been out on 30 to spinner Mannat Kashyap's bowling but was dropped by Kathryn Bryce. Capsey made a 17-ball 27 while Annabel Sutherland chipped in with a 12-ball 20 to provide impetus to the DC innings.
{{/usCountry}}In the end, dropped catches put GG in a spot.
GG's batting also let them down. Beth Mooney (14) was trapped leg before by Jonassen and Shikha Pandey bowled the other opener Laura Wolvaardt for nought. Jonassen accounted for Phoebe Litchfield (15) too while Veda Krishnamurthy (12) too did not convert her start. Debutant Tarannum Pathan (9) was then trapped in front by Arundhati Reddy. Gardner showed some spark, but she never got support from the other end.
Royal Challengers Bangalore meet UP Warriorz on Monday before WPL 2 moves to Delhi.