Jemimah Rodrigues led from the front to anchor Delhi Capitals’ tense run-chase with a gritty fifty, guiding her team to a much-needed seven-wicket win over Mumbai Indians in the Women’s Premier League on Tuesday.Chasing a target of 155 on a slow track, the Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians encounter turned into a battle of nerves.
DC captain Jemimah Rodrigues played a captain’s knock, entering the crease when her team needed 71 runs off 58 balls. Although the MI bowlers tried to restrict the scoring by taking pace off the ball, Jemimah Rodrigues found the gaps consistently. Jemimah Rodrigues combined smart running with aggressive boundaries to score her maiden fifty of the season as captain, finishing unbeaten on 51.
Competition in the WPL 2026 has officially heated up following a crucial clash in Vadodara. Delhi Capitals (DC) managed to secure a vital win, successfully chasing down the target to defeat the defending champions, Mumbai Indians (MI). This victory not only lifted DC off the bottom of the points table but also handed Mumbai their third straight loss.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report :  Looking at the surface, let’s look at the dimensions that, as a batter or a bowler, you will be challenged with. A 66-metre hit down the ground is what the batter would be looking at. The square boundaries, on one side, are slightly shorter, so the bowler will be well aware of those shorter boundaries. It’s the same wicket. It is very dry. So they played on it last night and we saw RCB get up, they scored well.
But the biggest difference for me is actually the bounce. In Navi Mumbai, it was red soil. There was extra bounce. Whereas here at Baroda, it is black soil. We saw a 9 cm difference in terms of the bounce. In terms of the dismissals then yesterday, we actually saw a lot of batters get out. You look at Mandhana – she got out going back, looking at it across the line. Similar to Wareham as well; she chopped on.
Both deliveries stayed a little bit lower than they expected. In terms of how the bowlers need to bowl, the question is straight. The answer is straight and at the stumps. We saw 10 out of 14 dismissals actually on that channel and straight line. From a batter’s perspective, they should have learned from last night – hitting down the ground is where you get a lot more value. Across the line, with the ball skidding so low, does present some risk.
Toss : DC -Women skipper Jemimah Rodrigues won the toss and chose to bowl first brings in Deeya Yadav in the Playing XI. MI Women skipper Harmanpreet Kaur batting first made as many as four changes in the Playing XI powering debut to Vaishnavi Sharma in place of injured Gunalan Kamalini.
Nat Sciver Brunt’s unbeaten 65* runs powers MI Women to 154 for 5 in 20 overs
Even before Charles Dagnall could announce which side the toss coin had fallen on, Jemimah Rodrigues announced that DC would bowl having realised Harmanpreet Kaur had called wrong. The first 20 minutes of play showed why there was such an urgency. The same pitch in Vadodara that saw GG post the lowest PowerPlay score of the season – 29 for 3, pushed MI even lower – 23 for 2, on Tuesday.
Marizane Kapp helmed those early ruins and lethargy as she bowled three overs in the PowerPlay for five runs and a wicket. With both openers S Sajana and Hayley Mathews dismissed, and two of MI’s stalwarts in the middle, Rodrigues opted not to take the foot off the pedal. Kapp came back to bowl her fourth over in the same spell, hoping to dismiss one of Harmanpreet Kaur or Nat Sciver-Brunt – the two who tormented DC in the reverse fixture.
Even though MI stuck to their opening pair from the last game, it didn’t change their powerplay fortunes. They continued to be the worst performing team in that phase, with a score of 23 for 2 against the DC quicks who kept aiming for the stumps. With some movement with the new ball, Nandani Sharma knocked over S Sajana’s off stump in the fourth over and Kapp had Hayley Matthews’ middle stump knocked back by two balls later.
That was not to be, even as Kapp wrapped up her spell with 14 dot balls. But her exit from the scene was the cue the two MI batters needed to step up after the abysmal start as they got stuck in, in the middle overs against Sneh Rana and the spinners. They got boundaries more frequently, and accessed the longer square dimensions for easy singles and twos to casually up the scoring rate.
The run rate was starting to plummet further as Sciver-Brunt kept finding the fielders and Harmanpreet got off to her usual slow start of 5 off 13. Until spin was introduced. Harmanpreet found the boundary twice as soon as Shree Charani erred with her lengths, including a trademark inside-out drive over the covers. Sciver-Brunt started to pepper the leg-side fence, and she stylishly brought up the half-century stand and push the run rate over six with an inside-out drive for the first six of the innin
None of Rana, Shree Charani or Nandni Sharma could stop the flow of runs as the MI pair took the scoring rate past six-an-over mark. Even golden arm Shafali Varma was welcomed with absolute disdain – the Englishwoman pulling and sweeping on either side of square leg for three fours in the 13th over.
Shree Charani finally broke through, getting Harmanpreet to hole out to long on, but not before a 78-run stand offered MI a score to build their death exploits on. Sciver-Brunt got to a 33-ball half-century – going level with Meg Lanning for the number of WPL fifties (11). Just when Harmanpreet had started to turn into Harmonster with three consecutive fours off Shafali Verma square of the wicket, DC dented MI’s middle order.
The big wicket came through Shree Charani who had Harmanpreet hole out to long-on for 41 off 33 and even though Sciver-Brunt kept finding the boundaries regularly around the park and brought up her 11th WPL half-century – joint-most with Meg Lanning – and third of the season, Shree Charani’s double-wicket 18th over that went for just four runs rocked MI again. After just 11 runs in the 18th and 19th overs, Sanskriti Gupta’s last-ball six helped MI collect 13 from the last over to post 154, their lowest total this season
She took more runs off Lucy Hamilton in the 17th over but Charani put the brakes on in the 18th, dismissing Nicola Carey and Amanjot Kaur. Nandani bowled a fabulous penultimate over worth seven runs but a last-ball six in the 20th – Sanskriti Gupta against Hamilton, drove MI past the 150-run mark. Sciver-Brunt meanwhile, walked off undefeated on 65 off 45.
Jemimah Rodrigues stellar half century powers DC-W to a solid 7 wicket win over MI-Women
There was an intriguing contrast to DC’s start and progression. Lizelle Lee and Shafali succeeded at trying to eat into a massive chunk of the target inside the PowerPlay. The chase began with a crisp Shafali drive past mid-off and the PowerPlay was characterised by many such shots flying off the bats of the DC openers. The chasers had 57 for 0 in 6 overs with as many as 13 boundaries hit between the two openers.
DC had the kind of powerplay MI can only dream of this WPL. The MI bowlers strayed often with their lines and Shafali and Lizelle Lee pulled and punched with confidence for boundaries to try and wipe out a good chunk of the target in the first six. They collected three fours each off Nicola Carey and Sanskriti in the second and sixth overs respectively, and the others in between for two fours each. With 57 smashed in the powerplay, DC had brought the asking run rate down to seven an over.
The contrast didn’t end there. The middle-overs where MI began to catch some steam, DC lost a lot of it. For four post-PowerPlay overs, DC couldn’t score a single boundary, and also lost Shafali to Vaishnavi Sharma.
Then came another dramatic over, which started with a second-ball six and a stumping call that the TV umpire took his time over, before sending Lee back. She trudged off shaking her head furiously but the decision appeared to be a very good one as the TV umpire explored different angles of the replay to come to the conclusion that the South African’s bat was in the air and the foot on the line when the bails were broken.
WPL debutant and left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma, a replacement for the injured G Kamalini, started to loop deliveries from wide of the crease that made DC’s job tougher to dispatch the ball to boundaries. Amanjot Kaur was frugal too and she accounted for Lee with a stumping through a wide down leg, although it took several replays for the third umpire Ajitesh Argal to conclude Lee’s bat was in the air and foot on the line when the bails came off.
Jemimah Rodrigues and Laura Wolvardt inched towards the death overs without further damage, but also without bridging the gap between runs required and balls remaining too aggressively. 43 off 30 became 37 off 24, when a slice of misfortune sent Wolvaardt back. A straight drive from Jemimah Rodrigues ricocheted off the bowler Sciver-Brunt’s palms and struck the stumps at the non-striker’s end when Wolvaardt was out of the crease.
The boundaries dried up for 20 balls, the equation became a stiff 51 off 36, but Jemimah Rodrigues was determined to see the chase through. Jemimah Rodrigues scooped, swept, reverse swept – all while staying low on the pitch – and smacked a six over midwicket to not let the pressure get to her. One of her shots even had Wolvaardt run-out at the non-striker’s end with a deflection off Sciver-Brunt’s hand, but Jemimah Rodrigues kept her nerve to beat the defending champions.
Jemimah Rodrigues didn’t let that moment hang heavy or drain the game away from her grasp as she tonked a six over cow corner in the same over. She then opened and closed the 18th over with a four, pushing the equation down to 14 off 12. Fittingly, DC wrapped up the win in an over bowled by the thorn in their lives this season – Sciver-Brunt, as Jemimah Rodrigues hit a four and Kapp sealed the win with a six.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Harmanpreet Kaur the losing MI-Women skpper said : Yeah, I think, we were 20 runs short by bat, and even in the powerplay, we were not able to execute even with the bat and ball. I think that is something which is really bothering us throughout this tournament. And I think we need to really, you know, push ourselves when we are batting in the powerplay and when we are bowling in the powerplay.
(so many different opening combinations) Yeah, I mean, before starting the tournament, we’ve been struggling with the injuries because first few, few matches Hayley was not there and then now Kamalini got injured. So I think that is the reason we had to keep trying our opening pair, but yeah, it’s not an excuse, but whoever is batting there, we have to take the responsibility and you know, bat well for the team.
(on Vaishnavi) Yeah, she’s been great. She’s the one who took the first wicket in the game because we bowled really bad in the powerplay, but after that, you know, she coming in and taking Shafali’s wicket was something a very turning point and yeah, she bowled really well and I think as a bowling unit, we need to, you know, see the areas we bowled today and I think she was great with Amanjot.
(on their next games) Definitely, we played really well in the past three seasons and this season I think, you know, we’re working really hard. Unfortunately, things are not going in our way. Injuries is something which is been really, you know, bothering us, but hopefully, you know, the next two games are important and we’ll go with the positive mindset and 100% over there.
Jemimah Rodrigues the winning DC-Women skipper and Player of the Match for her stellar 51* runs said : Yeah, I think today was a very important game for us. Firstly, I think I would like to share this award with Kappy, I asked them if we can do that, they said no, because the way she bowled in the powerplay to bowl that spell, I think that got us in the game and gave us the momentum.
But yeah, I’m very, very proud of the way the team played, in the partnership, Shafali and Lizelle had at the start on this pitch, put a lot of pressure on them. But yeah, really happy. (on Kapp) I mean, that’s one of the best spells I saw her bowl, but I mean, she’s a legend of the game. The thing I love about her is she’s so clear about her plans. And at the same time, she just wants to keep getting better and win it for the team.
So yeah, even when she came in, actually I told her that the partnership we had was very crucial, but what set us up was the running between the wickets that she did with me. I think the intent we showed really got those doubles off a good ball and then we kept hitting those one odd boundary but I think that really set the tone. (on her taking the team over the line) Yeah, 100%. I think I have had a few conversations with a few of the people I trust and they told me that just give yourself some time initially.
And to be honest, this pitch, I’ve played a lot in such pitches growing up. So I know how it works. I know if I give myself, get past those 10 balls for me and stay calm. So having clarity in that of giving myself those 10 balls and then looking what to do, because once you’re set, it’s easier to score here. So I think that really helped me.
(on assessing the conditions well) Yeah, I think we did assess the conditions well. I knew anything under 160 was a fighting score, but we still needed to have those partnerships. We spoke about it, how, you know, the set batter has to go through, build partnerships, run well between the wickets and as straight as possible initially. And then when it matters, when we need the risk, we can go take it. I learnt a little bit from Nat and Harman also, how they played because they got themselves in and then they accelerated. So that helped too.
Jemimah Rodrigues put her best foot forward with an exceptionally-timed 51* as her Delhi Capitals rose from the bottom of the table to join the chasing pack – now of four teams with four points each behind the already-qualified RCB on 10.
There is officially a traffic jam in the WPL points table. A day after RCB qualified for the playoffs, Delhi Capitals (DC) captain Jemimah Rodrigues led her team over the line in a tense and hard-fought chase to extend Mumbai Indians’ (MI) losing streak to three games in a row. That means all four teams apart from RCB now have four points each after DC lifted themselves off the bottom to push Gujarat Giants down to fifth.
Chasing 155 on a slow Vadodara track, DC saw Jemimah Rodrigues walk out needing 71 off 58 balls. The MI bowlers then dried up the boundaries by taking the pace off on a pitch keeping a little low as well and forced Rodrigues and Laura Wolvaardt to mostly trade in singles and doubles. Jemimah Rodrigues, however, kept finding the boundaries – square and behind square – to bring the equation down to a more comfortable 27 from 18. She placed the ball in the gaps for three more boundaries before Marizanne Kapp smoked a six to seal victory with an over to spare.
MI were earlier restricted after another slow powerplay with the bat. Once the openers failed again, Nat Sciver-Brunt did the heavy lifting once more with an unbeaten 65 after Harmanpreet Kaur fell for 41, as Shree Charani’s 3 for 33 dented MI while they looked to press the pedal. But the total wasn’t enough as almost all DC batters got going and Jemimah Rodrigues scored her maiden fifty of the season and as WPL captain.
Celebrations in the DC-W camp. No chasing worries tonight. The calm and cool skipper of their side – Jemimah Rodrigues has taken her side home. Shafali and Lizelle Lee again gave the side a good platform with an attacking opening stand. Once Shafali got out, the momentum slowed and it got tight after Lee fell. Still DC-W found the boundaries when needed and Jemi was proactive between the wickets too. Risks were taken at the right times and it came off. MI-W though fielded poorly and in the end they were probably 15 short.
Competition is now fierce, with four teams sitting on four points each, leaving only RCB comfortably ahead. This result has pushed Gujarat Giants down to the fifth spot, throwing the race for the playoffs wide open.
Also Read:Â ENG vs IND : Shubman Gill Appointed Test Skipper For Red Ball