WPL 2025: Delhi Capitals Women vs Gujarat Giants Women, Match 17 - Who Said What?
Gujarat Giants have now ranked up to second on the WPL 2025 points table, and a win in their last game would confirm their first-ever knockouts qualification.
Gujarat Giants won the Match No. 17 of the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2025 by a whisker against Delhi Capitals Women at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. Gujarat were centimetres ahead in their last-over chase against Meg Lanning & Co. on Friday, March 07, which ended Delhi's league stage campaign.
Speaking of the first innings, Lanning and Shafali Verma's opening pair gave a thunderous start to the Capitals, as they racked up 51 runs without losing a wicket in the powerplay. They further continued the onslaught to put 86 runs together before Shafali departed, making 40 off 27 balls. A solid knock by Lanning and others helped DC post 177/5 in the first innings.
The start to Gujarat's chase wasn't an ideal one, as they lost opener Dayalan Hemalatha in the second over. However, Beth Mooney and Harleen Deol's stellar partnership put the things back on track. Their stand of 85 runs between the two was broken by Minnu Mani. As the match seemed tight, Harleen partnered with others to hold nerves and race past target in the last over.
Talking Points
1. WPL still awaits its first centurion
Tonight, the stage was set for DC skipper to create history by becoming the first-ever player to score a hundred in the WPL history. However, with a couple of balls left in the innings and Lanning still eight runs away from the milestone, she went for the big hieve, missing the line of the ball completely and departing for a well-made 92 runs off 57 balls, which was decorated with 15 boundaries and a maximum as well. Albeit, her team ended on the losing side.
2. Harleen packs a punch
An early wicket in the form of Hemalatha meant that the onus was on Harleen to keep the scoreboard ticking alongside the experienced campaigner Beth Mooney. She did just that, and even as Mooney made her way back to the dressing room, Harleen stayed right till the end, notching up an unbeaten 70 off 49 balls. Apart from her partnership with the stumper-batter, she also received huge and important support from Ash Gardner and Deandra Dottin.
3. Giants rise from ashes
After ending as bottom-peddlers in the first couple of editions, Gujarat have finally made a strong comeback. This was their fourth win in seven games this season, which now finds them second on the WPL 2025 Points Table. A win in their next encounter against Mumbai Indians Women, who are third on the table. Both the teams will be desperate for a win to confirm a place in the Eliminator. Speaking of that, UP Warriorz have now been ruled out of the competition.
Who Said What?
Meg Lanning, Delhi Capitals and Losing captain, said
That is how this tournament goes. We knew it was going to be a difficult game. Full credit to Gujarat, they put us under pressure and were too good in the end. We lost wickets throughout the innings and that stalled us. We felt it was going to get better and we felt we were 15-20 short (of where we wanted to be). It was nice to contribute tonight, but would have loved to get the win. Some really good stuff (from the team) and we now look forward to the playoffs. It is going to play a really crucial part in the tournament. The effort was there tonight. Just about doing the basics as often as you can. We have a few days to reset and see how the rest of the tournament unfolds, which looks like it will be exciting. No, not at all. We have to play two great games, that is what we are looking forward to. About putting our best foot forward. Exciting competition that is still pretty open and we will see who we come up against.
Ash Gardner, Gujarat Giants and Winning Captian, said
We did a good job with the ball to peg them back, we knew it was a par score on this surface. Different people stood up today. Meghna, I was so pleased for her. She puts in a lot of effort in the nets and its good to see her get the rewards. It was just strategy to not bowl myself, people who bowled did a good job and I wasn't needed. Harleen played different roles throughout the tournament and she was able to adopt very well. She struck the ball beautifully tonight, it was awesome to see her play positive cricket.
Harleen Deol, Player of the Match, said
After winning the game, you feel very pleased after scoring runs for the team. When I was batting, the ball was not coming nicely onto the bat, so was just trying to play till the end. I knew we had batters to come, and they did what they had to do at that time. (Partnership and running between the wickets with Mooney) When you are batting with her, you just have to hit it and run. She closes her eyes and sprints for the run, so it is easier with her. When she hits boundaries, she also gets singles, so you keep getting the strike (smiles). When Kashvee came in, I knew she is good at hitting sixes. I told her that Shikha di would bowl at the stumps and that the ball was keeping low, so to just close her eyes and hit straight, and she will hit a six. When you are scoring runs and the team is winning, that is what you dream as a player. Just want to contribute to the team, whether it be while batting, bowling or fielding.
Download Our App