WPL 2024: All-round Deepti Sharma takes UP Warriorz to victory over Delhi Capitals
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In a match that ebbed and flowed wildly in pretty much every over of the chase, the unfancied UP Warriorz (UPW) held their nerves to eke out a one-run win over hosts Delhi Capitals at the Ferozshah Kotla here on Friday.
Chasing a modest 139 for their fifth win on the trot, DC went from 112/4 to 137 all-out — losing six wickets for 25 runs — thanks in no small measure to their collective brainfade.
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That, however, must not gloss over some superlative death bowling from UPW who had just 28 runs to defend in the last four overs with seven DC batters yet to bat. Deepti Sharma, not for the first time in the match, did a star turn for UPW with a dramatic 19th over that brought three wickets.
Sharma castled Annabel Sutherland and Arundhati Reddy on the first two deliveries of the over to complete her hat-trick — she had dismissed DC skipper Meg Lanning on the last ball of her previous over, 14th of the innings — before taking out Shikha Pandey a ball later to trigger a dramatic collapse.
Needing 10 runs in the last over, Radha Yadav hit a six off the first ball of Grace Harris before DC lost Yadav and Jess Jonassen of successive deliveries. With two needed off two balls, No. 10 Titas Sidhu hit straight to mid on as UPW ended DC’s four-match winning run.
In what should have been a regulation chase, DC batters huffed and puffed their way on a good batting track with none, barring skipper Meg Lanning, showing the game to ace such tricky chases.
Lanning starred with a 46-ball 60 as batters from both the sides laboured to find boundaries. After losing Shafali Verma in the fourth over, Lanning formed a crucial 47-run allinace with Alice Capsey to put DC firmly on track.
Capsey’s departure in the 11th over did little to alter Lanning’s momentum who went into the overdrive with a hat-trick of boundaries off Gouher Sultana in the 13th over. The 31-year-old fell leg before to Deepti Sharma in the 14th over as the asking rate gradually began to creep up.
Earlier, winning the toss and electing to bat first, UPW’s innings never got the desired momentum following Kiran Navgire’s loss in the second over to a Titas Sadhu nip-backer.
UPW could never really recover from the early setback as DC bowlers stuck to tight lines. Deepti played the lone hand with a 48-ball 59. She was the last batter to be dismissed in UPW innings and barring the lone six she hit just a ball before getting out, there was not much show of intent from the southpaw. In the end, it proved just enough.
