Delhi Capitals. (Photo Source: Twitter/WPL)
After suffering a hammering defeat against Mumbai Indians in their third game in the Women’s Premier League, Delhi Capitals returned to winning ways against Gujarat Giants in their fourth fixture as they blew them away with a 10-wicket win with 12.5 overs to spare. After losing the toss, Delhi were asked to bowl first, an invitation which they happily accepted as they restricted them to 105/9 in their allotted 20 overs.
In reply, Delhi chased down their target in just 7.1 overs and registered a dominating win over Gujarat. Having returned back to the winning track, Delhi will look to continue their winning run in their next game against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
In the last encounter between the two teams, Delhi inflicted a humiliating defeat upon the Smriti Mandhana-led RCB and would look to replicate the same on Monday, in order to place their contention for the top spot in the rankings. They will once again look to field a strong playing XI in their next fixture.
Here is Delhi Capitals’ predicted XI for the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore:
Openers: Shafali Verma, Meg Lanning (c)
Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma. (Photo Source: Twitter/WPL)
After having consecutive failures in her previous two matches, Shafali Verma returned to form against Gujarat Giants. She played a breathtaking knock of 76 off 28 balls, smashing ten fours and five sixes, which helped her side chase down the target in just 7.1 overs. She will look to once again give a flying start to her team against RCB.
Captain Meg Lanning has led from the front so far as she’s the highest run scorer of the tournament, scoring 206 runs in four matches at an average of 68.66 and a strike rate of 146.09. Delhi have their opening sorted with both Verma and Lanning in form. They scored the highest powerplay score in the WPL, which is 87.
Middle Order: Laura Harris, Jemimah Rodrigues, Taniya Bhatia (wk)
Laura Harris. (Photo Source: Twitter)
Laura Harris didn’t get a chance to bat in the last game against Gujarat. However, she’s been a proven match-winner in the Women’s Big Bash League, having scored 1061 runs in 107 matches at a sensational strike rate of 155.8. Having her at number three will give respite to the Delhi batting line-up.
Jemimah Rodrigues has risen to the occasion every time she has walked in to bat so far in the tournament. She played brilliant cameos of 22(15) and 34(22) in the first two matches and carried her good form from the Women’s T20 World Cup into the marquee league.
Taniya Bhatia has got just one opportunity to bat in the tournament so far where she scored just 4 off 9 balls. However, her performance behind the stumps has been brilliant and given a chance, would surely look to present a similar show with the willow.
All-rounders: Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen, Minnu Mani
Marizanne Kapp. (Photo Source: Twitter/WPL)
After picking just one wicket in the first three matches, Kapp bowled a sensational spell of 5/15 in four overs and registered the best bowling figures of the WPL so far, when Delhi met Gujarat in the last match. She has done full justice to her role of an all-rounder as she played useful cameos of 39 runs off 17 balls in the first match and 16 off 12 balls in the second game.
Jess Jonassen put up a breathtaking all-round performance against UP Warriorz where she scored 42* off 20 with the bat and also picked up 3/43 in four overs. In the last game against Gujarat, she bowled an economical spell of 0/19 in four overs. The Australian star has the ability to turn matches with both bat and ball which she has already shown in the tournament.
The 23-year-old Minnu Mani has given several remarkable all-round performances in the domestic circuit. After getting out on a duck against Mumbai, she was handed the ball for the first time against Giants where she finished with figures of 0/18 in 3 overs.
Bowlers: Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Tara Norris
Radha Yadav. (Photo Source: Twitter/DelhiCapitals)
Radha Yadav was expensive in the first three matches of the tournament giving away 47 runs in four overs. However, she made a strong comeback against Gujarat as she bowled her full quota of overs and registered figures of 1/19.
After picking just two wickets in the first three matches, Shikha Pandey finally put up an excellent performance against Gujarat as she picked 3/26 in her four overs. She has bowled at a decent economy of 7.13 so far in the tournament and has scored four runs with the bat in her only batting opportunity.
Tara Norris became the first bowler to pick up a five-wicket haul in WPL which she achieved against RCB in the second game of the tournament. However, after that, she has picked just one more wicket in the next three matches with other bowlers coming to the party.
Predicted Pakying XI: Meg Lanning (c), Shafali Verma, Laura Harris, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Minnu Mani, Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Tara Norris
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