Delhi Capitals have marched into their fourth consecutive Women's Premier League final after defeating Gujarat Giants in the Eliminator at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara. The Capitals batters put up a shining performance to chase down what was not a challenging target of 169, but they made it look easy.
Openers Lizelle Lee and Shafali Verma powered the chase with their brilliant opening stand of 89 in quick time that killed the chase. Lee scored 43 from 24 balls, while Verma made a 31-ball 21. While the two were dismissed by Georgia Wareham in the same over, they had done enough for the others to take the team ahead and home.
Laura Wolvaardt and Jemimah Rodrigues took the innings ahead as they capitalised on the strong platform set by the openers. The two unleashed their strokes with Rodrigues being the aggressor. She made 41 from 23 balls before handing a catch to Sophie Devine, sidetracking from mid-off.
With 14 still needed when the skipper departed, the Capitals did not have any further hiccup as Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp took the team home and into the final.
DC will now be facing the 2024 winners, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, in the final of the 2026 edition in a bid to win the WPL crown for the very first time.
Coming to the match, the Capitals were sharp with the ball and bold with the bat.
They opted to bowl first, something which has helped them win all of their matches in the league stage. The bowlers were right on the money as Chinelle Henry removed Sophie Devine in the second over.
Former GG skipper Beth Mooney and Anushka Sharma tried bailing the team out of trouble, but Nandani Sharma, the rising star of the DC, struck with her first ball, removing Sharma with Henry taking a brilliant catch running from mid-on. She got captain Ashleigh Gardner caught at slips for a golden duck and, for the second time this season, threatened to take a hat-trick, which could not materialise as she bowled a wide next ball. Kanika Ahuja was dismissed soon by Minnu Mani as the Giants reeled at 59/4.
With their backs against the wall, big-match player Mooney stood tall along with Georgia Wareham as they looked to rebuild things up. And they did. The two put up a 61-run stand and brought their team out of choppy waters and towards a strong total before they lost Wareham in the 17th over to Henry, with the batter finding Wolvaardt at deep cover as Bharti Fulmali followed the Australian all-rounder next, with Henry removing her caught and bowled in the same over.
Mooney and Kashvee Gautam then provided the much-needed finishing touches, with the former going unbeaten on 62, while Gautam made a 10-ball 18.
The chase was well powered by Lee and Verma. After collecting two boundaries in the first two overs, they went all guns out from the third to amass 31 from the next two, with two fours coming from byes.
The flow of runs continued as Shafali and Lee combined to hit five boundaries in the fifth over of Renuka Singh before Lee hit 11 from the sixth over. By the end of the powerplay, DC were cruising at 72/0 before a bit of a roadblock arrived when Wareham dismissed Lee LBW and cleaned Shafali in the eighth over.
Rodrigues and Wolvaardt joined hands as they kept the scoreboard ticking and hitting an occasional boundary. The two switched gears from the 12th over onwards to collect 49 runs from 22 balls. While Rodrigues was caught by Devine, the Capitals crossed the line in the 16th over after a four from Kapp with seven wickets in hand.
