Harleen Deol played a fantastic innings, scoring an unbeaten 70 runs off 49 balls, guiding Gujarat Giants to a victory against Delhi Capitals. The Giants successfully chased down Delhi Capitals’ score of 177 in a nail-biting match held at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow.
This win ended the Capitals’ three-match winning streak and moved the Giants up to the second position in the points table.
In a game full of twists and turns, the Giants won the toss and strategically used their strong batting lineup to chase the target of 10 runs per over after the initial PowerPlay. Deol anchored one end of the innings. Despite the advantage of chasing with dew affecting the bowlers, the Giants made the chase quite tense, scoring only 38 runs in the PowerPlay overs. At one point, both Deol and Beth Mooney were scoring at just over a run a ball, even after facing a significant number of deliveries.
The chase gained momentum in the ninth over, bowled by Annabel Sutherland. Mooney hit a couple of boundaries, and Deol added another, resulting in a 15-run over. However, the match could have turned out differently if Capitals had capitalized on their chances. Deol was dropped on 27 at long-off by Shafali Verma. Later, on 34, she survived a close call when Titas Sadhu missed a direct hit. Another chance went begging when Sutherland dropped a caught and bowled opportunity, indicating luck was not on the Capitals’ side.
The Giants then found the much-needed acceleration, starting with Ashleigh Gardner’s quickfire 22 runs from 13 balls, which included two sixes.
With 55 runs needed from the last five overs, Gardner was dismissed. Deandra Dottin then took charge, hitting a six off the second delivery she faced. She continued her aggressive play against Jess Jonassen in the 18th over, hitting a series of boundaries before being caught in a stunning diving catch by Jemimah Rodrigues for 24 runs off 10 balls.
Even at this stage, the game wasn’t over. Phoebe Litchfield was dismissed on the first ball she faced. The Giants now needed 16 runs from 12 balls, which became 13 off 7 after a tight over from Shikha Pandey. Kashvee Gautam then played a crucial shot, hitting a six off the last ball of the penultimate over. Harleen then secured the victory with a boundary on the first ball of the final over.
Earlier in the match, Delhi Capitals’ openers, Lanning and Shafali Verma, provided a rapid start, aiming for a high score. Their 83-run opening partnership was characterized by powerful drives. After just two overs, the Capitals had already scored 26 runs. Lanning hit three fours off Deandra Dottin, and Verma responded with two fours and a six.
The pair hit eight fours and a six in the PowerPlay. The introduction of left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwar slowed down the scoring slightly. Kanwar conceded just 10 runs in her first two overs, but the Capitals still managed to score 51 runs in the PowerPlay, marking the fifth time they had crossed 50 runs in the powerplay in this WPL 2025.
This was also Lanning and Verma’s 12th 50+ partnership in this tournament. Lanning reached her half-century off 35 balls with a six. Jess Jonassen survived a stumping opportunity but was eventually dismissed by Dottin.
The Giants managed to restrict the Capitals in the later overs, taking wickets of Jemimah Rodrigues and Annabel Sutherland cheaply. Lanning continued to score and threatened to score the first WPL century before being bowled for 92 off the last two balls of the innings. She hit 15 fours and a six, but it wasn’t enough to secure a win.
Match Summary: Delhi Capitals scored 177/5 in 20 overs (Meg Lanning 92, Shafali Verma 40; Meghna Singh 3-35) and lost to Gujarat Giants 178/5 in 19.3 overs (Harleen Deol 70*, Deandra Dottin 24; Shikha Pandey 2-31) by five wickets.
