Shafali Verma bowled four overs for Delhi Capitals on Wednesday (January 14) in their third league match of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026 played against UP Warriorz at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai and picked up two wickets for 16 runs. Shafali Verma opened her wicket account by dismissing Shweta Sehrawat (11 runs from 12 balls) on the third ball of the 20th over of UP Warriorz’s innings and then, on the fifth ball, got rid of Deepti Sharma, who made 2 runs from 2 balls.
While Shweta, who was retained for Rs 50 lakh by UPW ahead of the WPL 2026 mega auctions, was caught by Shree Charani, Sneh Rana completed Deepti’s catch.Shafali Verma’s super show with the ball helped DC restrict UPW to 154/8 despite them cruising at 132/2 in 15.2 overs.
And then in the 155-run chase, she slammed 36 runs from 32 balls as the opening batter. During her stay at the crease, Shafali Verma scored six fours and added 94 runs from 69 balls for the first wicket with South African wicketkeeper-batter Lizelle Lee, who was batting at 55 runs from 37 balls at the time of her dismissal.
Shafali Verma was unlucky to miss out on a deserving half-century, but her superb all-round show helped Delhi Capitals secure their first points in WPL 2026. But despite getting the better of UP Warriorz, DC remain fourth in the points table.
For Delhi Capitals, apart from Shafali, Lizelle Lee impressed with her batting. The wicketkeeper-batter from South Africa slammed her second fifty in a row. She made 67 runs from 44 balls with the help of 8 fours and 3 sixes before Deepti Sharma dismissed her on the fourth ball of the 15th over of DC’s innings. In an attempt to hit a big shot down the ground, she was caught by Kiran Navgire.
For UPW, their skipper Meg Lanning, who was previously associated with Delhi Capitals in the WPL, scored 54 runs from 38 balls. During her stay at the crease, Lanning joined the 1000-run club in the WPL and also broke Harmanpreet Kaur’s record of most runs in the competition’s history as captain.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : We’ve had outstanding cricket in the WPL so far, and the excitement will continue today as well, but on a different surface. We are back to pitch number five, the historic one. And before I get to the pitch, let me give you the details about the dimensions. The longest is down the ground, which is 66 meters, and then it starts getting shorter. It gets to 62 on the leg-side for a left-hander, and the square boundaries are even-stevens, 56 meters each, and it gets shorter as you go behind square.
And it’s going to be a thing that is going to favor the batters, obviously. And to tell you more about the pitch, I’ve got the legend, Mithali Raj with me. Mithali, good evening. What do you make out of the surface? First up. Good evening, WV. So if you look at the surface, it’s dry, it is hard, but there is hardly grass left. They have shaved off the grass, so it’s a perfect batting paradise, if I can say. A lot of runs for the batters. Yes, we’ve seen tall scores being put up in all these games.
What do the bowlers do on such type of surfaces? Now, if you’ve seen in the powerplays in the last few matches, the good length spot, because it is a flat and hard deck, there’s a good bounce for the batters and they’re utilizing, they’ve adapted to that four meters to six meter, the good length area, which is ideally good on any wicket. They’re able to play straight down and use these areas to access and they’re able to clear the rope at will.
So the bowlers need to continue to bowl at that good length, short of length deliveries, because there the strike-rate seems to be a little less, but the margin of error is very less because if they stray down the leg, they’ll get hit on the square-leg region. Anything outside given width, they are able to cut the ball. So I think they have to keep the stumps in play, but the shorter good length area is where there will be probably a little more effective.
Yes, quite challenging for the bowlers and we can expect a minimum of 180 around this surface. Well, we can expect 200 plus because we’ve seen so many teams reaching 190, 200 and even they’re able to get closer to the target while chasing. You legends, you never settle for less, do you? The verdict is the pitch is full of runs. We can see about 200 being scored here on this surface – reckons WV Raman and Mithali Raj.
Toss : DC Women skipper Jemimah Rodrigues won the toss and chose to bowl first with no changes in the Playing XI. UP Warriorz skipper Meg Lanning batting first made one change in the Playing XI bringing in Chloe Tryon for Deandra Dottin.
Shafali Verma’s 2-fer in the final over restricts UPW to 152 for 8 in 20 overs after solid half century from Meg Lanning
Warriorz were put into bat by Jemimah Rodrigues. On the second ball, Kapp thudded Kiran Navgire’s pads but the appeal was turned down by the umpire. On review, Navgire survived thanks to umpire’s call on wickets but the batter made a hash of it as she lofted the next delivery straight to mid-off.
Australians Meg Lanning and Phoebe Litchfield wasted no time as they scored three boundaries off the second over. Litchfield continued to don the aggressor’s role as she found two more boundaries in the next over. Three more boundaries followed in the PowerPlay as UPW ended it healthily at 47 for 1.
Lanning put away the first ball she faced to the square leg ropes to become the third player to pass 1000 runs in the WPL. She then pierced the gap at backward point with her favourite cut shot to bookend the second over, bowled by Minnu Mani, with a four. It helped that Phoebe Litchfield was languid at the other end, after UPW lost Kiran Navgire, sent to open, on the third ball. Lanning and Litchfield added 47 for the second wicket before the latter fell.
Immediately after the first-six, Sneh Rana turned one past the dancing Litchfield to have her stumped. Once again, UPW began to rebuild and once again it looked to set up the foundation for a big score. Lanning joined hands with Harleen Deol and the duo began to unleash the paddles, sweeps, pulls and unsheathe the long levers as boundaries were scored in every over from the 7th to 12th.
After slowing down a little, Lanning seemed to find her touch once the field opened up. She lapped Sneh Rana, who struck with her first ball to have Litchfield stumped, through fine leg. The stroke of the game came in the ninth over when Lanning planted her front foot and launched Chinelle Henry over the sight-screen for the only six of the UPW innings. With Harleen Deol for company, Lanning completed her fifty in 32 balls and the pair added 85 for the third wicket. At 130 for 2 after 15 overs, UPW had the perfect platform for the final assault
Three boundaries each in the 11th and 12th over saw UPW soar past 100 while Lanning brought up her 50 off 32 deliveries. Deol crunched two fours off Shree Charani before crunching an extra-cover drive off Verma as they reached 130/2 in just 15 overs. But things took a dramatic turn for the batting side as Lanning fell to Nandni Sharma, holing out to deep mid-wicket. With only 11 runs scored off the 16th and 17th over, the set batter Deol was surprisingly retired out.
It left Deol bemused as she walked off disappointed on 47. The move might have worked for Gujarat Giants the night earlier but it didn’t for UPW as Chloe Tryon, the new batter, fell to Charani for a three-ball one. Kapp had Sophie Ecclestone plumb in front as UPW continued to capsize at the death. Shafali Verma then picked up Shweta Sehrawat and No. 9 batter Deepti Sharma as UPW ended on 154 for 8, having scored only 24 in their last five overs for the fall of five wickets.
On paper, UPW have a power-packed batting line-up. But for a third game in a row, they underfired. It all began when Lanning pulled Nandani Sharma’s short ball straight in the hands of Henry at deep square leg. Shweta Sehrawat then drilled the second ball she faced just over Nandani’s head. But the 17th over, bowled by Shafali Verma, yielded just three runs before UPW retired Deol out.
Deol hit four fours in her first 13 balls to be on 25, and then was on 47 off 36 before head coach Abhishek Nayar called her in. Chloe Tryon, who made her debut after being on the bench three seasons for Mumbai Indians, replaced Deandra Dottin in the XI but fell for 1 off 3 balls. UPW could never get the finishing kick as they lost 6 for 20 in 4.2 overs to end up with a below par total. UPW’s middle-order woes came to haunt them after they lost 4 for 11 in their previous game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru and three wickets for one run against GG.
All round performance by Shafali Verma and a magnificient half century by Lizelle Lee powers DC Women to 1st win in WPL 2026 by 7 wickets
In response, DC began in good fashion through openers Lee and Verma. They didn’t let the opening bowlers settle as they found early boundaries with the runs consistently beginning to flow. Lee then powered Tryon for 16 runs in the final over of the PowerPlay to end the first stage at 46/0. Even Sophie Ecclestone wasn’t allowed to get into the groove as Lee slog-swept her for six before Shafali Verma added two boundaries in an 18-run over.
Both Shafali Verma and Lee are capable of starting in fifth gear. And they did so on the day, hitting six fours in the first five overs before Lee tore into her former South Africa team-mate Tryon’s bowling. She hit her for two fours and a six to close out the powerplay with a 16-run over. Shafali Verma then welcomed Asha Sobhana’s legspin with a boundary before going back-to-back in the next over from Sophie Ecclestone.
Lee got to her second successive fifty in 30 balls with DC 87 for 0 at the ten-over mark. Shafali Verma fell when she tried to reverse sweep Asha. Deepti ran to her left from short third to pull off a diving catch. Lee holed out to long-on off Deepti 19 balls later to give UPW an opening
Lee brought up her fifty following a six off Tryon as DC were going close to nine runs an over at the half-way stage of their innings. In the 12th over, Shafali Verma fell to Asha Sobhana, ending the 94-run association. Deepti picked up Lee in the 15th over with the South African attempting to hit her way out after DC managed to score only 21 from overs 11 to 14.
The experienced Ecclestone was taken for 13 in the 16th over. Rodrigues brought out the sweeps and reverse-sweeps to proactively combat Deepti in a 12-run 17th over. UPW pulled things back in the next two overs conceding just nine and picked up the wicket of Rodrigues ending the 34-run stand. DC made a simple chase tricky for themselves but they will be pleased to have gotten off the mark in the 2026 season.A 14-ball boundaryless phase at the death, that included Rodrigues’ wicket, raised UPW’s hopes, but it was not to be.
With six needed from six, Marizanne Kapp hit a boundary of the second ball to bring it down to two from four. Two dots and a single followed while jitters from DC’s previous game began to rise. However, Laura Wolvaardt hit a boundary off the last ball to seal the win. The defeat has left UPW winless after three games.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Meg Lanning the losing UP Warriorz skipper said : Yeah, I think it was an excellent effort from our bowlers to take it that deep. It did get more difficult to bat, I think, especially when pace was taken off the ball, which we learned from Delhi’s bowling innings. And I thought they did that extremely well. So, we felt like we were in the game if we could bowl well. Yeah, great effort from the team to take it that deep. (on her knock) Yeah, it was nice to get away a little bit.
Yeah, would have liked to have kept going, but yeah, always nice to contribute. But yeah, hopefully there’s a few more in there as well. (on retiring Harleen out) Yep, yep, for sure. You know, Chloe Tryon is a boundary hitter, and we felt like we wanted to maximize that as much as we could. Harleen batted extremely well, but it was getting harder to bat, and I guess, you know, got a little bit stuck there towards the end, as I did as well.
So we make a decision based on what’s best for the team. You know, unfortunately for Harleen, and that was what happened today, but you know, stand by that decision. It didn’t work today, but sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But there was definitely method behind it. (on Dottin’s omission) No, it was tactical. We felt like Chloe was a good matchup to a lot of these DC batters.
I think she did really well coming in her first game of WPL. I thought she played a role for us. So that was the best matchup we felt like, you know, would go well for this game. (on tomorrow’s game) Yeah, I think so. There’s still a lot of positives to take from tonight.
Obviously some areas we need to work on, which is always the case, but we take a bit of confidence how we finished the game. But yeah, certainly really keen to get that first win tomorrow against a Mumbai side who, yeah, certainly got some world-class players, but we’re looking forward to that.
Jemimah Rodrigues the winning DC Women skipper said : I’m very happy. I know it was a nail-biting finish, but so proud of the way the girls played and just kept their calm. Such things happen in cricket, but it feels good to be on the winning side. (how nervy was it at the end?) Yeah, it did go, but I think everyone was pretty calm. I think even when I walked in, it felt really calm. The dugout was calm and I think that’s really important.
Yes, it was a bit nervy towards the end, especially when I lost my wicket. It was like a deja vu, like seven runs and something like that. But I think the way Wolvfey and Kappy finished it, hats off. I think today we bowled really well. The way Sneh especially came back and got first ball wicket, you know, that’s cricket. It changes, one, you have a bad game the other day, you come and take an important wicket for us.
And I thought that was very crucial for us to get going. But then yeah, Meg and Harleen played really well, but all our bowlers bowled well, but I think Sheefu was the standout. And very pleased with her. She always contributes to DC either with the bat or with the ball today. (on Shafali’s bowling) I don’t think she was my last option because of the way she bowled in the last game.
And I’ve also seen her, she’s very confident with the bowling. She’d be like, anytime you wake her up from a sleep, she’ll be like, I’ll go and bowl for you. And to have that much confidence, I think it gives the captain a lot more trust on their bowler. So, but yeah, but she was phenomenal.
Shafali Varma Player of the Match for his all round brilliance 2- wickets with the ball and 36 runs with the bat said : Â I have a lot of confidence in my bowling. Even from my domestic days, I was confident of my bowling. When you take important wickets in a World Cup final, everyone has confidence in you. I was trying to make them play dots and just give singles, because first two matches we gave 200 and it’s tough to defend.
I was trying to bowl stump-to-stump and cut out the boundaries. I’m a hard-hitter so I know where to bowl. If you bowl too full, you will get smashed. When I bowl, I envision that I’m batting and the plan is not to get hit for six. As a hitter, it’s easy to bowl where and also on what variations to use. Tonight was a turning track, so I had to work on my batting. When it turns you can’t hit straight down the ground sixes.
I worked on a lot of sweeps and reverse-sweeps. I know tonight I got out to a reverse-sweep but I have been practicing on that in the nets. To bring out new shots is a growing up thing for a player and I will be confident on different pitches. (on batting with Lanning vs Lee) It’s very tough. I batted the last three years with Lanning, she knew me really well and now I’m slowly gelling with Lizelle Lee.
We talk about taking the singles against a bowler who we would fancy batting against. We are so happy for tonight’s win. We would look to contribute more to the team. We know we lost our first two games and tonight’s win will give us more confidence as a team.
In the bottom of the table clash, Delhi Capitals overcame the UP Warriorz off the last ball to register their first win of WPL 2026. With 68 needed off 10 balls and 10 wickets in hand, DC took it to the last ball as they made a comfortable chase hard for themselves. Shafali Verma’s all-round performance (36 off 32 and 2 for 16) and Lizelle Lee (67) played a pivotal role in DC’s win.
There was a sense of deja vu as the equation for Delhi Capitals (DC) came down to 6 off 6, and Marizanne Kapp couldn’t put bat to ball to make it 6 off 5. Three nights ago, they had lost after needing 7 off 6. On Wednesday, Kapp creamed the next ball through cover to ease the nerves. But Ecclestone followed it with two more dots before DC were left needing 1 off the final ball.
Laura Wolvaardt, who was dismissed in the last over against Gujarat Giants (GG), then sealed DC’s first win in WPL 2026 when she crunched the cover drive on the final ball and dealt UP Warriorz (UPW) their third defeat on the trot.
It should not have been this tough for DC after Lizelle Lee and Shafali Verma set base with a 94-run partnership. Lee hit her second half-century in a row, smashing eight fours and three sixes, before Jemimah Rodrigues injected momentum into the chase with a 14-ball 21. This was after UPW’s batting collapse, which kept them to 154 for 8. Lanning scored her first fifty of the season against her old team but the middle-order couldn’t contribute much with Kapp and Shafali Verma picking up two wickets each.
DCW nearly fluffed a chase for the second game running. But the calmness of Wolvaardt took her side home. When Lizelle Lee and Shafali were going strong, it looked like DCW would win it easily. But wickets kept UPW in it till the end. Asha Sobhana was superb and she got the deserved wicket of Shafali Verma.
After that she troubled Wolvaardt and her spell brought UPW back in it. Wolvaardt though didn’t throw it away and stayed there till the end which was key. Deepti was not thrown the ball till the 15th over but her two wickets gave DCW the jitters. In the end, it was just not enough for UPW.
It was a rare occurrence for Shafali Verma to make an impact with the ball. But it was even rarer for Shafali Verma to take the headlines without her bat doing the big talking. Wednesday was that reminder of cricket – that it’s not always the polished skill that shines, and delights. Sometimes, it’s the magic of somethingness.
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