Gujarat Giants were handed their fourth successive loss in the Women’s Premier League as Delhi Capitals defeated them by 25 runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Sunday.
Radha Yadav and Jess Jonassen picked up three wickets each to ensure the Gujarat Giants’ batting line-up crumbled yet again while chasing 164.
Shikha Pandey and Arundhati Reddy chipped in with a wicket apiece too.
Captain Beth Mooney (12), opener Laura Wolvaardt (0) and Phoebe Litchfield (15) all departed early leaving the Giants in a soup in the powerplay itself.
Ashleigh Gardner was the sole hope for the Giants as she top-scored with 40 off 31. However, with no support from other batters, the team crumbled for 138/8 in the 20 overs.
Earlier, Delhi captain Meg Lanning’s measured fifty led Capitals to a solid 163/8 in the first innings.
After the Giants decided to field first, Lanning made good use of her expertise to manage her innings and form a couple of strong partnerships.
Lanning, dropped on 30, combined with the in-form Alice Capsey to stitch a 38-run partnership for the second wicket. In the power play phase, they helped Delhi reach 51 for 1.
Following Capsey's departure, Lanning added 47 runs for the third wicket with an unsettled Jemimah Rodrigues.
During this passage, Lanning abandoned her low-gear strategy to extract some excellent strokes off the draw, including a huge six-strike off Kathryn Bryce over long off.
Shafali Verma hit a six and four off left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwar but her appearance was cut short very quickly.
Lanning got to her fifty in forty-nine balls, but was unable to stay in the middle for longer as D Hemalatha caught her cut off Meghana at cover point.
Delhi's attempt to increase their scoring pace was thwarted by Lanning's return to the dug-out, as they continued to lose wickets frequently.
With three wickets in her innings, Meghana Singh was the most successful bowler for Gujarat as she dismissed Lanning, Verma, Capsey and Radha Yadav.
Eventually, it was the batting performance that let Mooney and Co down again.
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