Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch report: Well, this is pitch number 5. This is probably the first game that will be played this season on this wicket. It’s a fresh wicket. There are cracks. It’s pretty wide and long. That means the wicket is dry underneath. But there will be good bounce. There are patches where it is a little more greener. That’s where if you get the ball to be pitched, it will skid through.
But otherwise, it’s a good wicket to bat. It is tempting when you know as a batter that the boundaries on the square are shorter than the straight boundaries. The batters will be tempted to play square of the wicket. But unless it is pitched outside the stump line, I think it is better to access more in front to get value for your shots – reckons Mithali Raj in her pitch report.
Toss : DC-Women skipper Jemimah Rodrigues won the toss and chose to bowl with no changes in the Playing XI. GG-Women skipper Ashleigh Gardner batting first also made no changes in the Playing XI.
Beth Mooney’s stellar 62* powers GG-Women to 168-7 in 20 overs as Chinelle Henry shines with a 3-fer with the ball.
Giants had won all their contests this season batting first, including the two they played against Capitals. Yet, Jemimah Rodrigues elected to field after winning the toss. Giants enjoyed yet another high-scoring powerplay, equalling the lowest they had scored in this tournament – 48. However, this time, they had lost three of their top four by then, and firmly pushed on the backfoot. After Devine got off the mark with a boundary that flew over the slips, the early movement had kept their openers under check. One of the outswingers, by Chinelle Henry, took the outside edge to the ‘keeper to send back Devine.
Put in to bat, GG had historically thrived in this scenario, winning all their five games this season batting first. But their innings never got off the ground., starting with Sophie Devine, their most impactful player this season, departing in the second over. After being squared up by a Henry delivery that curved away late, Devine went for a big shot against a back-of-a-length ball outside off, only to edge it to Lee, who took a sensational one-handed catch to her right.
Nandani Sharma then inflicted more damage, removing Anushka Sharma and Ashleigh Gardner off back-to-back deliveries in the sixth over. With that, Nandani went past Saika Ishaque for most wickets by an Indian in a WPL edition. She now has 16 wickets, just one shy of Devine’s 17, the most this season. Minnu Mani then struck to leave GG tottering at 59 for 4.
Anushka Sharma and Mooney revived the innings for a brief period, with the latter cutting loose against Kapp in the fifth over, and helping the side pick 17 runs, but Nandni Sharma struck twice in her last over to undo the steady start. A fine clip from Anushka was caught by a diving Henry at mid-on, and Gardner’s thick edge flew to Sneh Rana at wide slip.
A few overs later, Kanika Ahuja was stumped off Minnu Mani, and by the 11th over, Giants were firmly on the backfoot at 71 for 4 – with no boundaries scored for 33 balls.
GG found their footing despite the early damage with Beth Mooney, who had been a spectator as wickets tumbled at the other end, taking control. After GG went 33 balls without a single boundary, she broke free by hitting N Shree Charani for a four.
However, Mooney’s presence loomed large. She got going by stepping out against Shree Charani and slammed her for a boundary. However, she played the secondary role as Georgia Wareham continued to pick the boundary shots. The all-rounder got cheeky with Kapp’s back of a length delivery, cut Nandni’s slower delivery, swept Minnu, and lofted Shree Charani inside out for a six.
Georgia Wareham offered timely support, rotating the strike and picking off the occasional boundary, before providing a momentum boost by striking the first six of the match, a crisp flick over mid-off, again off Charani. The pair carried GG’s total past 100 and brought up a 50-run partnership. But Henry returned to bowl the 17th over and Wareham sliced her straight to Wolvaardt at deep cover, and Bharti Fulmali was then bowled for a duck.
Henry’s double-wicket 17th over threatened to pull the momentum back in DC’s favour, but Mooney reserved her best for the last. She took the dominant role in the death overs to lead Giants’ charge. She thumped three boundaries off Henry in the penultimate over, and then finished the innings with a pull for a boundary to take Giants to 168 for 7 – their lowest total against Capitals this season.
Mooney, though, batted on, and alongside Kashvee Gautam, struck six boundaries in the final three overs to lift GG to 168. Her 62 not out off 51 balls, spanning from first ball to last, once again underlined her value under pressure.
Quickfire start from Lizelle Lee and Shafali Verma followed by quickfire 40 from skipper Jemimah Rodrigues powers DC Women to their 4th successive WPL Finals
Wareham’s double strike and a couple of quiet overs to follow did allow them to keep the pressure up, but the required rate had come close to run-a-ball. However, Jemimah Rodrigues and Wolvaardt ensured that there was no way back for them.Wolvaardt and Jemimah Rodrigues then made sure there were no more hiccups. Wolvaardt got going immediately, with a fluent drive through the covers, as the duo played one classy shot after the other, getting DC’s equation down to less than run-a-ball.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Ashleigh Gardner the loosing GG Women skipper said : Yeah, obviously, you know, probably wasn’t the most ideal start. I think Moons did a fantastic job of kind of rescuing the innings with Georgia Wareham. You know, we felt like that was enough at halfway if we bowled well, but ultimately when you don’t start the powerplay, either taking wickets or restricting runs, it kind of brings that team in and obviously they took the powerplay on, which is what they do.
That’s their ammo and yeah, they obviously did that brilliantly today. (was the total defendable?) Yeah, we felt like it was obviously defendable, but yeah, I guess, like I said, when you don’t kind of put the pressure on early with the ball in the powerplay, it kind of just brings the other team in knowing that, you know, once the dew kind of sets in, the ball slides on if you miss the stumps and ultimately we just missed the stumps a little bit too much tonight.
Gave them too many freehits early. We obviously know the way that they play. They want to attack the bowler, put you under pressure and they obviously did that really well tonight. And I guess we weren’t able to adapt quick enough and we were put on the back foot pretty quickly.
(on the bowling) A little bit, yeah. Obviously we have so many great bowlers within our lineup, which is a fantastic thing for me as a captain and knowing that we had some real wicket-takers within our lineup. Obviously Georgia Wareham set the tone with her first over taking those two crucial wickets, but we just weren’t able to do that for long periods of time, which is obviously really disappointing. You know, there’s so much things to be proud of throughout this season, getting to finals two years in a row.
For this team, obviously, we had a pretty brutal start to the WPL. We didn’t win many games, so to do back-to-back, making finals two years in a row, there’s certainly plenty of positives to take out of it, but plenty of learnings as well going forward. (on their team) Yeah, absolutely. I feel like this is probably the most balanced Giants side that we’ve had. Obviously, being here from the start, I’ve kind of seen the evolution of either players or just the way that we go about our cricket.
And yeah, I think, you know, we’ve unearthed some fantastic talent. Looking at someone like Anushka Sharma, she hasn’t looked out of place. 20 years old, batting 3, and what’s almost like international cricket. She’s, I guess, looked at home. And then you look at someone like Rajeshwari, who’s come into this side and she has so much experience.
And I guess talking about the Indian players the most, I think they’re the players that almost win you these competitions. And then in saying that, someone like Sophie Devine has been fantastic throughout the whole campaign as well.
So I think it’s certainly the most balanced side that we’ve had. And hopefully we can keep the core group going forward and then go one better next year. (overall thoughts on the season) I mean, there’s so many positives. I think there was a different person that stood up in every game. And, you know, as a captain, that’s kind of what you want. You don’t want to rely on one or two people. And I guess, yeah, going into this changeroom with, like I said, there’s been, you know, either youth step up or experience step up at different moments.
And so many learnings, so many positives to take out of it. Ultimately, I would love to be sitting there on the fifth playing in the final, but obviously someone’s got to lose, unfortunately. And it was us tonight. We just didn’t play our best cricket. So, yeah, trying to keep a smile on our face.
You know, we did really well throughout the season. We clawed our way back into games that we thought we were behind on. We kind of set the benchmark early in the tournament, you know, putting massive totals on the board. So plenty of positives, plenty of learnings, and yeah, lots of perspective going into next year.
Jemimah Rodrigues the winning skipper and Player of the Match for her quickfire 41 runs said : Oh, it’s great. This finals feels different for sure. But also I think with GG, the last two games didn’t go our way. We were…. Last over we needed seven runs, today we won by seven wickets. So I think when you just keep believing as a team, magic happens. (any changed plans?) Nothing. To be honest, nothing. Even our team meeting was very short today.
I think we just thought of not overthinking it or trying too hard. Just sit back, trust each other, trust yourself, go out there, play good cricket and when you do things the right way and stay calm, things fall into place. (on the bowlers) I think a lot of credit goes to our bowlers. Kappy, I’m saying this, our bowlers won us the game today. But to be honest, they make me look good as a captain. You know, it’s easy to set a field, it’s easy to get the bowling changes, but you’ve got to still go out there and deliver.
And everyone’s been delivering. And yeah, I mean, one more game to go and we keep the same plans. (on not stuttering after losing the openers) Yeah, I think today was restoration for us. I would just say that. And to be honest, the way Shafali and Lee, from both the ends, you know, if they bat that way, it’s very hard as a bowling team. Where do you bowl? So I’m so glad both of them are in my team. At the same time, two wickets falling.
That does build a lot of pressure, but I love the way both Wolfie and I just kept playing good, positive cricket. Didn’t worry too much about the score again. We played according to the merit and stuck to our strengths. We complemented each other well, ran well between the wickets. And yeah happy to be on the winning side. (on her being positive with bat) I think I was doing one thing, I was trying way too hard.
And the last two games, I just let go. I let go, backed myself, didn’t even go and practice because I was practising so hard, trying and when I was going and trying to hit every ball perfectly and get everything right. I was like, you know what? It’s like, I remember one of the interviews I heard, it’s like the butterfly, the more desperate you are, the more further it goes away. But the more you just let go, it comes and sits on your shoulder.
And that’s what I did. And I’m happy it’s coming. It’s coming off well. And also a lot of credit goes to Wolfie for her to bat on such tracks. I know it’s not easy tracks, but for her to bat with such intent and such positivity. It’s great. But yeah, one more game to go. We’re going to keep our plans simple, keep being positive, but yeah, one more game to go, then we’ll celebrate. (plans for the rest day?) I think it’s going to be super chill.
Whoever wants to practice will practice, but I don’t think many will because we’ve played like in six days, three games. So just about staying fresh mentally and because everyone’s well prepared. Everyone’s done their bit. Just time to go out there on the fifth and play some good cricket.
An explosive opening stand from Lizelle Lee and Shafali Verma combined with an excellent bowling effort from Chinelle Henry propelled Delhi Capitals (DC) past Gujarat Giants (GG) in the Eliminator, securing their fourth straight WPL final. DC will now face Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the final in Vadodara on February 5.
In the 169 chase, Lee and Shafali laid the platform, clearing off more than half the target with an 89-run opening stand. Jemimah Rodrigues and Laura Wolvaardt then combined for a 68-run partnership, as DC completed the chase with 26 balls remaining.
An all-round performance by Delhi Capitals powered them to their first win of the season against Gujarat Giants, and paved the way for their fourth successive appearance in the Women’s Premier League final. After restricting Gujarat Giants to 168 for 7, they stormed their way to the target in only 15.4 overs, with seven wickets in hand, undoing the efforts of Beth Mooney and Georgia Wareham, the two Australians who reserved their best performance of the season for the critical Eliminator.
The eighth over of the chase began with Lizelle Lee going on the back foot and missing a flick off Wareham. She was trapped leg before. The last ball of that over ended with Shafali Verma inside edging a cut on to her stumps. The double-wicket over threatened to derail Delhi Capitals’ charge, or at least spice up the contest. That, however, wasn’t to be. It was all but an anomaly in an otherwise one-sided run-chase.
Shafali and Lee earlier, and Jemimah Rodrigues and Laura Wolvaardt later combined to make a mockery of Giants’ total on a slow surface where run-making wasn’t easy.
Such an easy chase this. Set up by the openers – Lizelle Lee and Shafali Verma. They were so strong in the powerplay and half the job was done there itself. 89 was the stand and though both the openers went in the same Wareham over, Jemi and Wolvaardt ensured there were no issues. Delhi have had problems in chasing games down this season and have lost to this unit twice in the last over as Devine defended runs both times.
No such heroics from the New Zealander tonight. Jemi is over the moon and so are her team-mates. Gujarat were taken apart in the powerplay and they bowled too many slots balls to the powerful duo of Lee and Shafali. That’s where the game ran away from them.So just the one game left in this year’s edition of the WPL. It will be between RCB and DC.