Delhi Capitals Women all-rounder Marizanne Kapp was the pick of the bowlers for her side against UP Warriorz in Match 20 of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026 season on Sunday. Marizanne Kapp exploits helped DC restrict UPW to 122/8 in 20 overs. Marizanne Kapp got two wickets inside the powerplay overs before dismissing Deandra Dottin in the 10th over to complete a three-fer.
Marizanne Kapp (3/30) started on a costly note, leaking runs before getting the wicket of Charli Knott off the final ball of the 4th over. In the final over of the powerplay, Marizanne Kapp got the big fish in Deepti Sharma. She then trapped Dottin LBW. Marizanne Kapp bowled her entire quota of overs and clocked 3/30. With this spell, she now owns 10 scalps from 8 matches this season at 18.60. Overall in the Women’s Premier League, Marizanne Kapp has raced to a tally of 38 scalps from 32 matches at 19.31. She is currently the 5th-highest wicket-taker in WPL history.
It almost happened again! This time though, the overall target was well below par and that played a part in Delhi Capitals somehow scraping through in jittery fashion against UP Warriorz to clinch their place in the Eliminator. Needing a win to qualify, DC put on a clinic to restrict UPW to 122/8 and were cruising at 83/1 after 12 overs in the chase at one stage. Four overs later, they were clearly rattled after getting reduced to 101/5 before skipper Jemimah Rodrigues stayed until the end to ensure an encore wasn’t in store.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : “It’s been a nice intriguing contest with the bat and ball, well most times bat has dominated, but not gonna be much different here this evening as well. The dimensions of the ground – one side slightly shorter, slightly biased (59m vs 52m) for those big hitter batters who would be wanting to breach that mark, but a straight hit is a 67m. Those boundaries haven’t changed much. What has changed right through the tournament has been the surface. This is a black soil surface and it looks good, even though there are a few cracks.
The batters should not allow that to be going on through their minds. It’s also a challenging track as well for the batters because you’ve got to adopt a different approach completely on the surface. But when you look at it, the approach keeps changing from a hard hitting batting unit to probably a consolidation one as well. We’ve seen the likes of Nat Sciver-Brunt, Smriti Mandhana and Richa Ghosh prefer to play through the line and they’ve not taken the route of playing across the line because this is a track where the pace can be uneven, where the bounce can be uneven.
So if you play percentage cricket and if you adopt a commonsensical approach, you can get runs. It won’t be a 200 track, but it could be anywhere between 160-180 track.” reckons Anjum Chopra and WV Raman in their pitch report .
Toss : DC Women Team skipper Jemimah Rodrigues won the toss and chose to bowl first with no changes in the Playing XI. UP Warriorz Women skipper Meg Lanning batting first made as many as three changes in the Playing XI bringing in Charli Knott, Deandra Dottin and Shipra Giri for Chloe Tryon, Amy Jones and Shweta Sehrawat.
Marizanne Kapp picks three as disciplined Delhi Capitals restrict UP Warriorz to 122/8 in 20 overs
It was only the seventh time in the WPL – second time in WPL 2026 – that Marizanne Kapp did not bowl the first over. Henry started the proceedings and returned the perfect result for DC – an outswinger that started from middle and leg and trapped Meg Lanning lbw for a first-ball duck. This was despite Marizanne Kapp enjoying a superior match-up with Lanning. It was as if UPW couldn’t recover from this jolt, despite Deepti and Charli Knott, on WPL debut, putting a few away. They had lost three wickets inside the powerplay, and five inside ten overs.
Earlier in the evening. Meg Lanning, their former skipper, was sent packing first ball of the contest as Henry trapped her lbw. While Deepti and Charli Knott tried to reverse the pressure with a flurry of boundaries, Marizanne Kapp got rid of them both in successive overs to round off the powerplay in fantastic fashion for DC. The procession continued as Shree Charani kickstarted her spell with a wicket first ball as Harleen Deol departed for a scratchy 11-ball 3.
Chinelle Henry struck with the very first ball of the innings by trapping UP Warriorz skipper Meg Lanning lbw for a duck. Deepti Sharma and Charli Knott hit six boundaries between themselves, before an accurate Marizanne Kapp struck in her second over by removing Charli Knott with a short ball that cramped her for room and was caught behind.
Unusually, Marizanne Kapp conceded runs at an economy of over eight in her three overs in the powerplay even though UPW scored at barely a run a ball. She also bowled ten dot balls and prised out two wickets – Knott caught behind with a bumper, and Deepti’s sliced skier caught at extra cover. UPW had dotted up 31 balls in their first eight overs. Marizanne Kapp then came back into the attack to finish her spell at the halfway mark and the move paid off as the South African bagged the key wicket of Deandra Dottin that further added to UPW’s misery.
Marizanne Kapp ended the power-play by foxing Deepti with a slower ball and have her caught at cover. UPW’s misery didn’t end there as Harleen Deol struggled to get going, and was trapped lbw by Charani, while Deandra Dottin was also dismissed via lbw by Marizanne Kapp on review. Simran Shaikh tried to counterattack, cutting Marizanne Kapp for four and later pulling Minnu Mani for back-to-back boundaries. But UPW’s slide continued when Minnu Mani’s yorker surprised Shipra Giri and was caught by cover, while Simran’s resistance ended when Chinelle had her caught at mid-off.
At 52/5 after 10 overs, there was certainly no way out for the batting side. Simran Shaikh added some crucial runs before her departure and then the likes of Asha Sobhana and Pandey made some meaningful contributions as well that saw UPW drag themselves past the 120-run mark.
Simran Shaikh showed her intent with the bat quite early, even if UPW were losing wickets regularly. She ensured Marizanne Kapp finished with an economy rate that was higher than average on the night, punching a length ball between backward point and deep third. She then used the sweep and the reverse sweep against Minnu Mani but fell just as she looked to be playing the perfect foil.
Then Pandey gave them the only other burst with the bat at the death, hitting three fours in her 13-ball 23 not out. She added an unbeaten 28 off just 19 balls with Ecclestone as UPW managed to swell their score to above a run a ball, something that looked unlikely when they were 76 for 7.
Asha Sobhana briefly lifted spirits with a slog-sweep six off Sneh Rana, but Charani removed her by having her hole out to long-on. Shikha Pandey provided late fireworks, cutting Chinelle for four and pulling and thumping Nandani Sharma for two boundaries to make 23 not out off 13 balls, as DC ensured they held the upper hand at the halfway stage.
Laura Woolvardt’s 47 and Jemimah Rodrigues crucial 34* runs powers DC Women to the Eliminators with a nervy 6 wicket win over UP Warriorz
The chase kickstarted with Lizelle Lee departing early despite finding the boundary a couple of times. Thereafter, Laura Wolvaardt and Shafali Verma steadied the ship and dragged DC to 38/1 by the end of the powerplay. With the required run rate never being an issue, even Shafali was content to bide her time. Both batters also were aided by reprieves on the field and made good use of it.
For UPW to make a match of it, and raise MI’s hopes, the only currency was wickets. Deandra Dottin, brought in for Chloe Tryon, delivered with her fifth ball by having Lizelle Lee caught by mid-off running back. They also bowled Pandey and Dottin through the powerplay unchanged, with regular new-ball bowler Gaud coming on only in the seventh over. The move seemed to work as DC struggled to force the issue. It could have been more than that had UPW managed to hold onto their chances.
Wolvaardt was the beneficiary of two early dropped catches and a half-chance. She pulled a shortish ball towards midwicket in the fourth over but Sophie Ecclestone couldn’t hang on. In the next over, Dottin at backward point only got her fingertips to a hard slash.
And then in the seventh over, Asha couldn’t hang on to a sitter at short third when Wolvaardt hopped and cue-ended her cut. Gaud’s second over then afforded Wolvaardt the chance to cut loose and she hit four fours in the ninth over.Wolvaardt at one point turned on the heat by smacking Kranti Gaud for four boundaries in the space of five balls as DC were well positioned at the halfway point at 70/1.
DC needed 27 off 36 balls with Shafali Verma and Rodrigues in the middle. Shafali wasn’t at her fluent best on a surface where the ball held a little. She was even dropped at deep midwicket a couple of overs ago. But the manner of her dismissal showed how off-colour she looked on the night. A half-tracker from Shikha Pandey outside off was clunked to cover-point. Five balls later, UPW enticed Marizanne Kapp into going for a big shot by having mid-off and mid-on in the ring. She couldn’t resist and Kranti Gaud took a well-judged catch at mid-off.
Shafali actually took a backseat to Wolvaardt as the South African made merry to firmly put her side on course for an easy win. But it was her dismissal in the 13th over that triggered a big collapse to cause panic in the DC camp. Shikha Pandey struck in her final over to get rid of Shafali before Sophie Ecclestone and Deepti Sharma bagged the big wickets of Marizanne Kapp and Chinelle Henry, leaving Rodrigues stranded.
Then came Chinelle Henry. She looked to power Deepti Sharma back over her head and only popped a catch back to her to be out for 1 off 4. Just like that, DC had lost 3 for 4 and invited pressure on themselves. But captain Rodrigues kept punching back, with her running between the wickets and then her innate ability to find gaps like few others. She swept Deepti through midwicket in the 17th over and then lofted Asha Sobhana’s legspin inside out over cover in the next to finish 34 not out off 18 and all but seal DC’s qualification.
The skipper relieved some pressure with a sweep shot that went for a boundary before bringing out a lofted cover drive in the following over to drag DC closer. She eventually put the contest to bed with back-to-back boundaries in the penultimate over to erase the ghosts of the recent past.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Meg Lanning the losing UP Warriorz skipper said : Yeah, I thought we fought it out to the end really nicely. Our bowlers did a good job to take it to the second-last over and put Delhi under some pressure. And we created some chances as well, which could have, you know, made the game very different. But yeah, I guess looking back, the batting innings again, unfortunately, it didn’t get going and always going to be difficult to defend 120-odd, you need everything to go your way.
(on the season) We just haven’t been consistent enough. We’ve had patches of games where we played well and put the opposition under pressure, but we’ve sort of given it back to them a little bit too easily. So that’s probably the biggest thing for me is, yeah, just doing it for longer. And then when you do get a team under pressure, really, really making it difficult for them to stay in the game. And we just haven’t been able to do that throughout the whole season, unfortunately.
And yeah, it hasn’t been the season that we wanted, obviously, and disappointing to finish off with a loss tonight. (on Shipra Giri) Absolutely, I thought she did an excellent job. She was, you know, keeping up to the stumps, you know, some difficult balls to do that too, and she wanted to take that challenge on and I thought she did it beautifully and we were able to build some pressure that way.
So yeah, certainly, a really, really nice night for her, I guess, to see her come into the side and do well and hopefully that gives her some confidence. (on bowling out Ecclestone and Shikha) Yeah, I just wanted to try and bowl the best bowler for that situation. You couldn’t save any overs for the backend because it was likely that we weren’t going to get there. So whatever the best option was to take a wicket, build some pressure at the time, was what I sort of went with.
There were a few three-over spells in there, which is a little bit unusual, but they were bowling well and then putting them under pressure. So just got to go with it in games like these and then hopefully you can put the opposition under pressure and put ourselves back in the game. (if she will be back next season?)
Yeah, absolutely. I’m still thoroughly enjoying my cricket. I love playing and coming into teams like this and trying to get the best out of people and trying to get the best out of myself too. I’m very competitive. I love to try and win and that fire is certainly still there. So absolutely, I’ll be back next year and hopefully a bit longer than that as well.
Jemimah Rodrigues the winning DC-Women skipper said : Â I think we were always assured that we are a good team. I think there was never a doubt about that. It was just about coming out there, keeping things simple and executing. And even today, I think even before we started, there was a different kind of calmness about this team. We knew how important this game was, but everyone was really calm, really professional with their work.
And I think that speaks of how we played today. (on their bowlers) Yeah, I think our bowlers have been doing a great job. We know T20 cricket is never easy for the bowlers, but I think our bowlers have been brave enough to stick to their plans and to keep executing to their strengths rather than thinking about the batter’s strengths. And I think that is something that has worked for us, clarity and sticking to your strengths.
(what were the plans when bowling?) I think it’s both ways. It just depends on the situation. We always, whenever we speak in the team meeting, even JB (Jonathan Batty, head coach) keeps talking about how we need to stick to our strengths first and then we can always plan to a batter, maybe what field, what is better, what are they good at or which area we can block. But I think it’s more to do with sticking to your strengths and a balance of that yeah.
(was there a plan to get the runs quickly?) It was just about winning today. I think there was nothing about the run-rate. But yeah, we still speak about how we can be positive. I think it’s in low scores, it’s very important. A lot of times we think of the score and play, rather watch the ball and play according to the merit.
And when you do that, I think it’s very simple. So I think the way Wolvey also, you know, today was a different role where we saw Shafali taking singles, which is very mature of her. While Wolvey was going attacking. So I think that speaks about this team and how we’re improving every day.
Marizanne Kapp Player of the Match for her 3 wickets said : Look, to be honest, it’s hard to be happy if one of your skills is down. But I’m just happy with the win, to finally contribute and us winning and going through. That’s all that matters. (on maintaining consistency) Look I probably went for a bit of tap today, but I think that actually worked in my favour if they go after me a little bit. I was lucky to pick up wickets.
Any team, if you get them a few down in a powerplay, you have a good chance of winning. So just again happy to strike. (pressure on her?) Yeah, look, there’s always pressure on you, especially as an international, to perform and to lead the bowling attack. Again, first few games, probably didn’t get the wickets that I would have liked, but as long as we’re winning, I’m happy.
For a franchise that has always finished on top in the league stage, Delhi Capitals’ (DC) qualification for the Eliminator of WPL 2026 couldn’t have come in a more contrasting manner. They had restricted UP Warriorz (UPW) to 122 for 8, but then nearly bungled their chase when they needed 40 to win from 48.
Defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) would have watched keenly as they would have qualified had DC lost. But Jemimah Rodrigues maintained her calm and ensured that she finished the job that Marizanne Kapp started and Laura Wolvaardt almost completed, making DC the only team to make the playoffs in all four seasons, with MI knocked out. Given how the contest finished, 10-12 more runs could have easily made a massive difference.
Delhi again made it tough for themselves but the calming presence of their captain, Jemimah Rodrigues has ensured they meet Gujarat Giants in the Eliminator. Mumbai and UP Warriorz are out. There were certainly nerves in the Delhi camp as they lost Lee early and then Shafali struggled. Wolvaardt gave two chances and had they been taken, this might have gotten even more trickier for Delhi.
The South African capitalised on that and struck boundaries sweetly to add 73 for the 2nd wicket. But a flurry of wickets gave hope for UPW-W and MI-W but Jemi saw her side through with a composed knock. UPW-W just didn’t have the runs on the board and also their catching left a lot to be desired.So the league stage is done. Just two more matches to go. The Eliminator and the final.
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