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A blazing fifty by Shafali Verma (64*, 43 balls) helped Delhi Capitals make light of a target of 120 and open their account in the second edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL). Against UP Warriorz, Capitals needed only 14.3 overs to achieve the target with nine wickets in hand at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday.
Capitals had suffered a narrow defeat to holders Mumbai Indians in their opening game. Warriorz have lost both their matches so far in the five-team T20 competition.
Verma creamed six fours and four sixes, stitching together a 119-run opening stand with Delhi skipper Meg Lanning (51). The ease with which they found the gaps was in stark contrast to the first half of the evening as UP Warriorz stuttered to a modest 119/9 after being sent in.
Marizanne Kapp’s incisive new-ball spell and Radha Yadav’s crafty left-arm spin were responsible for Delhi’s disciplined bowling effort.
Kapp provided the early spark, dismissing the top three of Alyssa Healy, Dinesh Vrinda and Tahlia McGrath cheaply to leave the Warriorz tottering at 16/3. Kapp bowled her entire quota of overs with the new ball, her figures reading 4-1-5-3. Warriorz weren’t able to build much momentum even after Kapp’s spell.
Radha, introduced into the attack in the tenth over, struck instantly. Grace Harris was her first victim, done in by a flighted delivery that she attempted to smash but sliced to Verma at short third.
In her next over, she was ready to tempt Kiran Navgire and get hit for a six before getting the better of the batter with a caught and bowled dismissal.
Even as wickets fell, Shweta Sehrawat, a star for India in the inaugural women’s U-19 World Cup triumph last year, offered a hint of respectability to UP Warriorz’s total by contributing a 42-ball 45. She dawdled to 13 off 21 deliveries but picked up the tempo in the 14th over by going after seamer Shikha Pandey. A scoop over the wicketkeeper and a slash towards cover point fetched her boundaries in a 15-run over that included a no-ball.
Two overs later, she picked the spot over deep midwicket against Minnu Mani’s off-spin, taking full toll of a ball that was in the slot. When Australian pacer Annabel Sutherland returned to the attack, Sehrawat hit three more fours. It was Yadav who eventually outfoxed a charging Sehrawat, shortening her length and getting the ball to zip past the bat for Taniya Bhatia to complete a straightforward stumping.
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