Delhi Capitals (DC) will look to end the Bengaluru leg on a high before it moves on to its home leg when it takes on struggling Gujarat Giants (GG) in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.
The WPL 2023 finalist, DC has won two out of three games this season, while the Giants have slumped to three consecutive losses, languishing at the bottom of the points table.
With six wickets in three matches, the experience of Marizanne Kapp has helped Capitals make early inroads inside the PowerPlay. The South African pacer has troubled batters, extracting bite and early movement off the pitch.
The addition of Jess Jonassen has given the team more solidity in both departments. She replaced Annabel Sutherland in the playing XI against Royal Challengers Bangalore and announced her arrival with 36 off 16 with the bat before scalping three wickets.
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Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma, the most successful opening pair in the WPL, have returned to form, providing stability to the top-order. DC’s openers have combined to score 150 runs in three matches.
On the other hand, nothing has gone right for Giants. The bottom-ranked team has used different opening pairs in all three games, all of which have failed to provide any impetus. Veda Krishnamurthy and Harleen Deol partnered with Beth Mooney in the first two matches, with Laura Wolvaardt joining in the third.
Harleen’s approach has not worked out at all this season, with the Indian top-order batter scoring 48 runs at a lowly strike rate of 75 in three innings.
Skipper Mooney’s form – the experienced Australian wicketkeeper-batter has only managed to rack up 48 runs – has only added to GG’s woes.
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Though Ashleigh Gardner and Phoebe Litchfield found runs at a decent rate against UP Warriorz – scoring 65 runs out of 142 – in their last game, the team’s main concern remains its dot-ball percentage.
About half of all deliveries faced by GG – 47.77 percent – have been dots, with 57 against Mumbai Indians, 67 against RCB and 48 against Warriorz.
Also, on the bowling front, barring Tanuja Kanwar, who has picked up five wickets, none of the Giants bowlers have contributed significantly.
With elimination almost on the horizon, Giants will look to pull up their socks before it gets too late.
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