Jemimah Rodrigues. (Photo Source: Twitter/WPL)
As Mumbai Indians brought the Delhi show to a standstill in the seventh match of the ongoing WPL, the Delhi players too fought it out in the middle to not let their winning streak get snapped with ease. Although Mumbai were in command for most part of the match, Delhi’s young-gun Jemimah Rodrigues showed exceptional intent as she covered a significant distance before diving forward to grab an enthralling catch that culminated Hayley Matthews’s innings.
Matthews has been Mumbai’s batting mainstay throughout the tournament and on most occasions, has played an integral role in determining Mumbai’s success. Therefore, getting rid of the Carribean is one of the first things that the opponent tends to tick off, in order to keep themselves in the hunt. That’s exactly what Delhi were looking for when the destructive opener had started to unleash herself on the Delhi bowlers.
After a comparatively steady knock of 32 off 30 deliveries, the right-handed batter had attempted a biggie off right-arm off spinner Alice Capsey, when she mistimed it and struck a leading edge to get it going in the air. Rodrigues, who was stationed at long-off, came running in towards mid-off, covering a significant bit of distance, and dived ahead to get hold of the ball, catching it comprehensively to get Matthews out. The video that surfaced following the exceptional acrobatic display, has managed to garner traction in social media as well.
Watch video:
Ishaque, Wong and Matthews effects Delhi’s downfall
Rodrigues’ efforts, however, went in vain as the target set for Mumbai was too low to be compensated for by an individual effort. Batting first, the Delhi batting line-up was subjected to a catastrophic collapse as no other batter except skipper Meg Lanning, Jemimah Rodrigues and Radha Yadav managed to score in double digits. While Lanning kept her individual heroics going with a score of 43, Rodrigues and Yadav scored 25 and 10, respectively. For Mumbai, Saika Ishaque, Issy Wong and Hayley Matthews picked up 3 wickets each, as they were able to bundle Delhi up within a mere 105.
Chasing a target of 106, the Mumbai openers got them off to a good start as Yastika Bhatia (41) and Hayley Mathews (32) stitched together a partnership of 65 runs for the first wicket. Nat Sciver-Brunt and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur then finished off the proceedings with unbeaten scores of 23 and 11, respectively. Alice Capsey and Tara Norris were the only bowlers to activate their wickets tally.
With this, Mumbai Indians continue their invincible run in this tournament whereas Delhi Capitals face the first setback of WPL 2023.