Navi Mumbai, March 11: Shafali Verma’s explosive unbeaten half-century and Marizanne Kapp’s sensational five-wicket haul fired Delhi Capitals to a massive 10-wicket win against Gujarat Giants in the Women’s Premier League here on Saturday.
Kapp broke the back of Gujarat Giants’ innings with a stunning spell of 5/15, taking the top four wickets in the line-up as DC produced a clinical display to keep the opponents to 105 for 9 at the DY Patil Stadium here.
In reply, Shafali came out firing on all cylinders, clobbering 10 fours and five sixes to produce a ruthless knock of 76 in the company of captain Meg Lanning as DC completed the chase in a mere 7.1 overs.
DC made their intentions clear right from the word go, with Shafali taking a special liking for the Gujarat bowler Ashleigh Gardner, smacking her for four fours and a six in the fourth over to collect 23 runs.
Shafali continued to attack, this time hitting Tanuja Kanwar for a couple of sixes to help Delhi knock off the majority of their target, with 87 runs coming in the powerplay.
Shafali brought up her second half-century in the WPL, from just 19 balls as the senior pro in Lanning happily chose to take the backseat and enjoy Shafali’s power hitting.
Earlier, Kapp produced a stunning spell at the top to reduce the Giants to a precarious 33 for 6 after seven overs, a position from which they could never recover.
After Kapp set the tone, the others continued to apply constant pressure on the Gujarat batters.
India’s left-arm spinner Radha Yadav returned with figures of 1/19, Minnu Mani gave away just 18 runs in her three overs and Australia’s Jess Jonassen conceded 19 runs from her four overs.
Shikha Pandey also had a memorable outing, taking 3 for 26 from her four overs.
Kim Garth and Georgia Wareham tried to weather the storm and get some much-needed runs for their side, but their efforts could only provide Gujarat Giants’ innings some respectability.. (PTI)
