Marizanne Kapp and Jess Jonassen’s all-round show spurred the Delhi Capitals to their second win of the Women’s Premier League 2024 season on Thursday at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Put to bat first by the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Capitals posted 194/5 in their 20 overs before restricting the home side to 169/9 to secure a 25-run win.
The Capitals lost captain Meg Lanning (11) in the fifth over but the young pair of Shafali Verma (50) and Alice Capsey (46) took the attack to the RCB bowlers plundering 82 runs in 43 balls. The match could have gone in a completely different direction had Shreyanka Patil not dropped an easy catch from Verma, when she was on five, in the first over.
Capsey was also the beneficiary of a dropped catch with Sophie Devine dropping a sitter.
Patil made amends for her earlier drop by getting rid of Verma right after the Capitals opener brought up her half-century. However, the damage was done as Verma scored 45 runs after being dropped in the first over, including hitting Patil for back-to-back sixes right before her dismissal.
WPL debutant Nadine de Klerk, who had been named in the team in place of an ill Ellyse Perry, got rid of Jemimah Rodrigues for a duck before cleaning up Capsey with a delightful slower yorker.
At 124/4 after 15 overs, the Capitals were in a good position going into the final five overs and needed a big finish to set a competitive total. In Kapp and Jonassen, the Capitals found just the right players. Kapp hit a 16-ball 32 and Jonassen hit a 16-ball 36 as the Capitals scored 70 runs in the last five overs.
Bangalore had gotten off to a good start this season topping the table by winning both their opening matches. To continue their winning start, the home side needed to pull off the highest chase ever in WPL history.
And they got off to the perfect start thanks to captain Smriti Mandhana. The 27-year-old left-hander was brutal in the power-play, clubbing seven boundaries and two sixes to race to 49. At the other end, fellow opener Devine had only faced 11 deliveries and scored eight runs.
Mandhana brought up her first WPL half century before Devine joined the party by smacking Minnu Mani for two huge sixes in the eighth over. However, the New Zealand batter perished in the next over for 23 after miscuing a low full toss off Arundhai Reddy’s bowling. The ball went high up in the air and Jonassen made no mistake in pouching the catch.
Mandhana was joined by S Meghana in the middle and went about her business as Bangalore kept the required rate in check. Just as it looked like Mandhana and Bangalore would run away with the match, Kapp struck.
Right after being hit for a four and a six, the veteran South African outfoxed Mandhana with a slower delivery which crashed into the off stump. A hush went around the ground as a dejected Mandhana made her way back to the dugout for a 43-ball 74.
Shikha Pandey and Jonassen increased the pressure on Meghana and new batter Richa Ghosh by conceding just 11 runs in their overs combined. Ghosh took on the mantel of the aggressor as she clobbered Reddy for two sixes.
It was Kapp who once again came up with the killer blow. And it was once again a slower delivery which was the undoing of a Royal Challengers Bangalore batter on the night. Ghosh looked to hit Kapp out of the park only to end up slicing the ball towards backward point where Jonassen completed a good catch. Crucially, Kapp gave away only five runs in that over to knock the wind out of the home side’s sails.
With Bangalore needing 40 runs off the last two overs, Meghana tried to fight on, hitting Reddy for back-to-back fours. However, a mix-up with Georgia Wareham saw the Indian being run out for 36. Wareham followed a ball later holing out to Annabel Sutherland in the deep.
Jonassen picked up three wickets in the final over to wrap up a comfortable 25-run win. The Capitals’ win sees them tied with Bangalore and Mumbai Indians at four points. However, the Capitals top the table due to their superior net run rate with Bangalore sitting in second place.