UP Warriorz vs Delhi Capitals Highlights, WPL 2024: Shafali, Lanning fifties help DC to nine-wicket win over UPW

With a NRR of 1.22 (BEST IN THE TOURNAMENT NOW), Capitals go up to second place 

Feeling very good. Today, the ball was coming onto the bat well. Wanted to finish the game for the team. Last game too, it was the same, but I didn’t build on it. Today, my strokes were good. Lanning is quick, and she gets out of the way if my shots go in her direction. She keeps talking to me and backs me all the time.

We don’t have a lot of pace bowling options anyway so it was a 50-50 call anyway. Wicket was pretty good but I don’t think we executed very well. We needed more runs on the board and didn’t play the high-tempo game we want to play. We were a bit off. We have a quick turnaround and have to be better quickly. We were outclassed completely. There’s no time for training. It’s about coming out with the right attitude and getting it done. 

Convincing win for the Delhi Capitals. A big boost to the side’s NRR. Questions aplenty for the UP Warriorz who seem to have problems on multiple fronts here. 

Ecclestone will bowl out. Lanning gets to her fifty! Gets two runs down backward point Scores level. One run remains and a 10-wicket win in sight for DC but Lanning is dismissed with a lovely catch by Vrinda Dinesh at backward square leg. Lanning is furious as she storms off. Jemimah Rodrigues is the new batter. She cops one on the pads but the ball runs away down fine leg for FOUR. Delhi Capitals win by nine wickets with 5.3 overs to spare. 

Poonam Khemnar comes in. Shafali takes some time, and then uses her feet to send the ball sailing over long on for six. A big thumbs up from Meg. Shafali apologises to Meg and her captain is a run short of her own fifty. It’ll be the last thing Meg thinks about but it’s an adorable dynamic in play here. Shafali leaves her skipper three runs to do the job. 

Shweta Sehrawat is hobbling off. Yashasri and Saima are in for Shweta and Kiran respectively. A few ones and twos and we have six runs coming off it. 10 runs needed in 42 balls.

Deepti returns. Shafali skies it right up front. Kiran Navgire is around the long on area waiting to catch it. The ball goes through her hands and hits her on the head. Kiran is off the field now and concussion protocol will ensue. Shafali survives. She then smashes Deepti over deep midwicket to bring up her first fifty of WPL 2024 and the DC hundred. Shweta saves a boundary but seems to have hurt her knee. Jon Lewis looks on with concern. 

Ecclestone returns for her third. Lanning gets back to back boundaries, one over Healy’s head and the other through square leg. Shafali almost lost her wicket. Shafali swings and misses and has fallen but Healy can’t complete the stumping. Ecclestone then throws the ball in frustration. 

Gouher Sultana is back for her second of the night. Shafali takes one on the pads to start off. She then manages a single. She then goes a bit short and Meg Lanning dispatches her to square boundary. She then rocks back for a single. 

Ecclestone returns. After a fairly defensive start. Ecclestone bowls to Lanning leg stump and she dispatches it to the fine boundary. Eight runs come off the over. 

Deepti returns. Four singles. Kept quiet with regard to the big shots. But that won’t dent this side. Massive NRR bump coming Delhi’s way at this rate. Five runs come off the over. Time for a timeout. 

Gayakwad concedes six, largely due to Lanning boundary past backward point. 

McGrath returns. Shafali begins with a straight, flat-batted shot for four. Lanning also ducking to be safe. Delightful sight. Shafali goes again, this time over cover. Brings up the team fifty. She celebrates that with a SIX! Pure power, straight over the bowler. Lovely hitting. Healy is wincing. 

Lovely powerplay this. Compare this to the 26 they managed in the first six against MI. 

Another over, another left arm spinner. Rajeswari Gayakwad comes in for her first. Eight runs come off the over and the Warriorz just don’t seem to be able to catch a break. Could have had Shafali with a yorker but the ball inside-edges its way to the boundary. Murphy’s Law! 

Deepti Sharma into the attack. Four singles as DC ticks along. Just when UP was beginning to breathe easy thinking they’ve kept things quiet, Shafali muscles one over for four between midwicket and long on. Nice shuffle from Shafali (Geddit? okay)

Gouher Sultana comes in for her first over. She last played for India in 2014. Lanning first thumps her through to extra cover. Lucky to not concede a boundary here. She then slows it down to a length ball. Shafali comes down on one knee but is beaten. Shafali recovers with a SIX off a tossed up delivery outside off. Goes over long on for SIX. Gouher almost has her first wicket, and it’s the dangerous Meg Lanning. Vrinda Dinesh drops her at short fine leg.

Tahlia McGrath comes in from the other end. 11 runs come off the over with Lanning and Shafali using her pace to get two boundaries in. One off Lanning’s bat between third and backward point and the other a nudge from Shafali past the keeper. 

Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma are out to chase this low score. This pair a partnership from last season that betters this score by 40 runs. That’s how scary these two can be. Sophie Ecclestone will open the bowling for UPW. Meg Lanning is off the mark with a couple down third. She adds a single with a sweep to square leg. Ecclestone sends one drifting away from the off stump. Shafali is safe but what a beautiful switch up. Shafali then plays to the pace of the ball to end the over with a boundary, nudging it fine for FOUR. 

A brilliant bowling performances with key contributions from Radha Yadav and Marizanne Kapp mean UP Warriorz register the lowest total in the tournament this season. 

Radha Yadav gets the ball for the 20th. She’s done a brilliant job so far with three dots. Off that third delivery, umpires think it’s a wide as Gouher Sultana tries to sweep. Radha is sure there’s some contact there and urges Meg Lanning to challenge it. Reviews vindicate her. Gouher runs a single to get off the mark to bring Ecclestone back on strike for the last two deliveries. Radha wraps up the UP innings for a very poor 119/9 as she gets the wicket of Sophie Ecclestone who tries to find the boundary, holing out to Lanning at extra cover instead. 

WICKET Sophie Ecclestone c Lanning b Yadav 6 (6b 0x4 0x6) SR: 100

Sutherland will bowl the 19th. Deepti wants two but Ecclestone sends her back. Ecclestone tries to whip the next one to the square leg fence but Jemimah intercepts the ball. The pair runs two. Ecclestone goes again, this time near deep midwicket. Arundhati manages to stop the ball. 2 runs saved. Ecclestone continues to look down leg. Arundhati fields. Sutherland gets her first wicket of the night as she takes out Deepti Sharma who tries to go big over deep midwicket. That is the longer boundary of the night. Good shot, just not enough distance. Kapp makes no mistake. Gouher Sultana will give Sophie Ecclestone company for this final over. 

WICKET Deepti Sharma c Kapp b Sutherland 5 (7b 0x4 0x6) SR: 71.42

Radha Yadav comes in for her third over of the night and she will bring a breakthrough for her side. Shweta Sehrawat is out by a mile and steps out to try and swing the ball. She misses and Taniya Bhatia does the rest behind the stumps. This brings out Sophie Ecclestone to partner Deepti Sharma. What can this pair do with 12 balls to go? 

WICKET Shweta Sehrawat st †Bhatia b Yadav 45 (42b 5x4 1x6) SR: 107.14

Sutherland returns. Shweta Sehrawat is up to a run-a-ball rate now and will need to accelerate and she tries as she sends a bouncer from Sutherland to the boundary for four! Shweta has an issue with her bat and gets a replacement. Proves to be a good decision as she brings up two consecutive boundaries, one through extra cover and the other right past the bowler. 

Minnu Mani is back. UPW need to look beyond 130 to make something of this game and Shweta and Deepti will need to get going, with five overs left. Shweta gets cracking with a massive slog sweep over the deep midwicket area for a crucial SIX. A run out scare closes this over but Shweta is safe. Time for another time out. 

Back to back wides from Arundhati Reddy. A single and two runs bookend the wides. Arundhati is looking to go into the stumps more. She’s trying to find the yorker. Poonam Khemnar tries to make room and try something funky with a sort of scoop. But she holes out to Shikha Pandey at short fine leg. Arundhati gives her a send off too. Deepti Sharma joins Shweta Sehrawat. 

WICKET Poonam Khemnar c Pandey b Reddy 10 (9b 2x4 0x6) SR: 111.11

BIG BIG OVER for UPW. Shikha Pandey varies her line and length but this duo wants to see ball, hit ball. Shweta survives a run out early and celebrates with a scoop over the keeper’s head. Poonam Khemnar somehow sends this wide yorker past the keeper for FOUR. Shweta then sends a slower one from Shikha comfortably through cover point for FOUR. This was a no ball too but the free hit brings no dividends. 

Shweta Sehrawat now has Poonam Khemnar for company and we saw how she can hit big in the RCB game. She gives us a bit of a reminder as she smashes a boundary over Sutherland’s head. Seven runs off the over. 

Radha Yadav returns for her second over. Kiran Navgire gets two lifelines in this over. She sends in a fuller delivery outside off. Navgire tries to go big, but Capsey makes a can’t hold on at midwicket. Two balls later, Navgire misses Kapp as she tries to go across the line. Navgire takes advantage of the help from the field and smashes a big one over wide mid on. But it is Radha Yadav who will have the last laugh as completes a smart caught and bowled. Navgire messed up the reading of the line there and gets a massive top edge which Radha calls for herself. 

WICKET Kiran Navgire c & b Yadav 10 (7b 0x4 1x6) SR: 142.85

Arundhati Reddy returns. She switches her lengths trying to draw out errors from Kiran Navgire in particular. Both batters survive and seven runs are added to the UP score. 

Lanning brings Radha Yadav into the attack. There’s a half chance presented to Lanning to dismiss Shweta Sehrawat, but there’s a drop. Grace Harris smashes a boundary through extra cover. But Harris will fall soon after. Generates a big top edge and Shafali Verma is ready at short third man. BIG WICKET THIS. Navgire joins Shweta

WICKET Grace Harris c Shafali Verma b Yadav 17 (18b 2x4 0x6) SR: 94.44

Grace Harris might need to amp up the scoring rate. She will go up against Annabel Sutherland who is given her first over for the evening. She welcomes her compatriot with a smash through the deep midwicket boundary. She continues to pull on the leg side but Jemimah is manning the ropes there. Six runs come off the over for the Warriorz. Definitely need more of this. Time for a timeout. 

Arundhati Reddy comes in. We can see a slightly annoyed Healy watching on and understandably so. Shweta Sehrawat is celebrating her 20th birthday. Not ideal, the amount of anxiety she might be dealing with right now. Sehrawat is being extra cautious. Grace Harris walks up to her partner with a few words of encouragement. Strike rotation needs to happen. Just three runs in this over. 

Kapp is done for the night. She claims three wickets giving away just five runs in four overs. Look at her bowling card - 4-1-5-3

Marizanne Kapp has 12 wickets in the PowerPlay in WPL history. The most by any bowler. Absolute legend.

Shikha Pandey returns and she will round out the PowerPlay.. Grace Harris and Shweta Sehrawat need to find a way to counter this momentum from the Capitals. Pandey oversteps but the free hit yields just a single as Sehrawat’s attempt to go big but is caught by Capsey. Just the five runs come off this over. 

Kapp returns and knocks Tahlia McGrath’s off stump. A peach of a jaffa! Grace Harris is in far too early for her own liking and has a massive job at hand. There’s an appeal for a potential caught behind, but Delhi won’t push for it after the umpires show no interest. Delightful swing bowling. But Kapp will get her player as Healy holes out to Shafali after coming the track to go big. Fantastic running catch by Shafali Verma 

WICKETS Tahlia McGrath b Kapp 1 (8b 0x4 0x6) SR: 12.5

Alyssa Healy c Shafali Verma b Kapp 13 (15b 2x4 0x6) SR: 86.66

Lanning hands the ball to Minnu Mani. Spin early in the PowerPlay. Healy continues to target runs through the leg side and begins with two through short midwicket. Almost looks like a drop there. Minnu is getting some help from the surface. She finally negotiates this down mid-off and has to run hard to make it to safety. If there was a direct hit, McGrath would be mamking the painful walk back to the hut. 

Kapp returns and begins with one pitched in the channel. Vrinda beaten. She then tries to go big but gives Shikha a simple catch at third man. Nice bounce there for Kapp. Vrinda falls for a duck. The Australian captain and vice captain are now out there for the UP Warriorz. They’ve done a lot of damage in yellow jerseys. Can this be the same? 

WICKET Dinesh Vrinda c Pandey b Kapp 0 (5b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0

Shikha Pandey will take guard at the other end. Healy is all kinds of tentative her. Almost knicks this one from Shikha. But Healy is detemined to open her arms and send the ball to her leg side and it runs away to the boundary as she goes across her pads for four. She pulls the next one deep for a single. OH WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN. Vrinda drives and the ball drops short of Lanning at short midwicket. Shikha then sends in a back of the length delivery which she has not hit cleanly. She is looking for the ball but Healy screams asking her to run. Good call from the captain. She then comes down the wicket to get the ball to fence through deep midwicket. 

Marizanne Kapp will open the bowling for Delhi Capitals, as always. Healy and Vrinda are out to improve on their showing from their campaign opener against RCB. Healy looks a bit shifty right up front, her feet itching to make room. Three dots to begin for Kapp. Good so far. Healy too is feeling out the South African pacer. Make that four ducks, this one dribbles away after an inside edge. She knows Lanning is at slip. She gets off the mark with a pull to deep backward square leg. Kapp has got some swing with the final ball drifting away from Vrinda. Just the one run from the first over of the day. 

Gouher Sultana last played for India in 2014 and was not a part of the WPL last season. She has been handed a debut and will hope to make the most of the opportunity. A very spin-heavy bowling arsenal for Jon Lewis’ side. 

UP Warriorz XI: Alyssa Healy (c & wk), Vrinda Dinesh, Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris, Shweta Sehrawat, Kiran Navgire, Poonam Khemnar, Deepti Sharma, Sophie Ecclestone, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Gouher Sultana

Delhi Capitals XI: Meg Lanning (c), Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Annabel Sutherland, Arundhathi Reddy, Minnu Mani, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey

Meg Lanning optss to bowl as she believes dew will come into play eventually. Healy says she would have liked to chase too. Delhi Capitals are unchanged in this encounter while UP Warriorz swap out Saima Thakor for Gouher Sultana. 

Delhi Capitals lost its opening encounter against Mumbai Indians by four wickets in a last-ball thriller

UP Warriorz lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore in its opening match by 2 runs in a last-ball thriller. 

Both teams will want to open their account in WPL 2024. 

A new strip is being used for this UP Warriorz vs Delhi Capitals game. Delhi has the upper hand against the Warriorz, having won both the encounters between these twol teams. 

In a fight for the first points in the Women’s Premier League 2024, UP Warriorz battles against Delhi Capitals on Monday in the league match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here.

After losing their season openers courtesy of two nail-biters, both teams will be eager to get their campaigns back on track.

- Five teams will face off against each other in the nearly month-long tournament

- Mumbai Indians is the defending champion

- Captains of the teams: 

Mumbai Indians: Harmanpreet Kaur

Delhi Capitals: Meg Lanning

UP Warriorz: Alyssa Healy

Gujarat Giants: Beth Mooney

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Smriti Mandhana

You can follow the live telecast of the Women’s Premier League on Sports18 and stream it on the Jio Cinema app.