MUMBAI: Ashleigh Gardner and Laura Wolvaardt’s half-centuries followed by splendid bowling performance by Gujarat Giants (GG) bowlers helped them defeat Delhi Capitals (DC) by 11 runs in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) match at Brabourne Stadium here on Thursday.
Gardner starred with both bat and ball for Gujarat as she slammed an unbeaten 51 and bagged two wickets conceding just 19 runs. For DC, Marizanne Kapp scored the highest at 36 while Arundhati Reddy and Alice Capsey scored 25 and 22 respectively.
With this all-round performance, GG climbed back to No. 4 on the points table. Defending a total of 147, Gujarat Giants got off to a fine start as Tanuja Kanwar provided her team with a big wicket of Shafali Verma in the second over of the game.
Alice Capsey and captain Meg Lanning gave their team a solid platform as the duo slammed Gujarat bowlers all around the ground. Sneh Rana then gave Delhi a big blow as she dismissed Lanning for 18 and Capsey was run out because of a poor call for a run.
Kim Garth then joined the wicket-taking party as she dismissed Jemimah Rodrigues for just one run. Marizanne Kapp hammered Mansi Joshi for 16 runs with the help of two boundaries. Delhi kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
Kapp continued her good form as she slammed Harleen Deol for 14 runs in the 13th over of the game. Delhi lost the wicket of Taniya Bhatia for one and then the crucial wicket of Kapp due to confusion in the middle and the well-set batter was run out.
Kapp returned after scoring 36 of 29 deliveries. Arundhati Reddy brought her team back in the chase as she slammed boundaries at regular intervals to collect crucial runs.
Gujarat bowlers gave final twist to the match as Kim Garth dismissed Reddy then Gardner removed Poonam Yadav to skittle out DC for 136 in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, blistering fifties from Ashleigh Gardner and Laura Wolvaardt guided Gujarat Giants (GG) to 147/4 against Delhi Capitals (DC).
Gardner scored an unbeaten 51 of 33 deliveries while Wolvaardt played a superb knock of 57 runs for Gujarat Giants. For Delhi Capitals, Jess Jonassen bagged two while Marizanne Kapp and Arundhati Reddy scalped one wicket each.
Opting to bowl first, Delhi Capitals got off to a fine start as Marizanne Kapp provided her team with the wicket of Sophia Dunkley in the first over of the innings.
After an early blow, Harleen Deol and Laura Wolvaardt took charge as they gathered singles while slamming boundaries at regular intervals. In the 10th over of the game, Jess Jonassen gave Gujarat another blow as she dismissed well-set batter Harleen Deol for 31 runs.
The right-handed batter Ashleigh Gardner then came out to bat. The Gujarat batters rotated the strike, not allowing the Delhi bowlers to settle down while whacking the loose balls.
Gardner slammed back-to-back two boundaries off Shikha Pandey’s over. The duo slammed Kapp for 11 runs in the 15th over of the game with the help of two boundaries. Gardner and Wolvaardt hammered Jonassen for 15 runs in the 16th over with the help of two boundaries and one maximum, bringing up their 50-run partnership.
In the 17th over, Wolvaardt brought up her half-century in 43 balls. Wolvaardt continued her form and played some outstanding boundary shots while piling runs for her team. However, her stint at the crease was cut short as she was dismissed by Arundhati Reddy after she had scored 57 runs in 45 deliveries.
Dayalan Hemalatha then came out to bat at the crease. In the last over of the innings, Gardner also brought up her half-century in 32 balls and took her team’s total to 147/4.
Brief score: Gujarat Giants 147/4 (Laura Wolvaardt 57, Ashleigh Gardner 51*; Jess Jonassen 2-38) vs Delhi Capitals 136 (Marizanne Kapp 36, Arundhati Reddy 25; Kim Garth 2-18). (ANI)