WPL 2023 : Tahlia McGrath’s knock in vain as Lanning, Jonassen power Delhi Capitals to win over UP Warriorz

Navi Mumbai : Tahlia McGrath’s brilliant fighting knock (90 not out off 50) went in vain as an attacking fifty by captain Meg Lanning (70 off 42) and all-round show by Jess Jonassen (42 not out and 3-43) led Delhi Capitals to a convincing 42-run win over UP Warriorz in a Women’s Premier League 2023 (WPL) match at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, here on Tuesday.

This was Delhi Capitals’ second win in as many matches at the inaugural edition of WPL. On the other hand, this was UP’s first defeat, having won the previous encounter against Gujarat Titans.

Apart from Lanning, Jonassen and Rodrigues, the likes of Alice Capsey (21), Shafali Verma (17), Marizanne Kapp (16) got starts but couldn’t score big. Chasing a big total, UP skipper Alyssa Healy showed her aggressive intent right from the first ball, hitting five boundaries in the first three overs.

But, Jess Jonassen inflicted a double blow as she removed Healy (24 off 17) and Kiran Navgire (2) in the same over, which was 4th of the innings. Very soon, Marizanne Kapp got rid of Shweta Sehrawat (1) as UP could only score 33/3 in six overs and from there it was just too much to do.

All-rounders Tahlia McGrath and Deepti Sharma stitched a brief partnership to halt the fall of wickets but the asking run rate was increasing with every passing over. It was Shikha Pandey, who gave Delhi their next wicket by removing Deepti in the 11th over.

However, it didn’t affect McGrath, who kept playing her shots and got her able partner in Devika Vaidya. Though, the run rate was going beyond UP’s reach. Once Devika (23) got out in the 17th over, McGrath was all alone and went all guns blazing, hammering Delhi bowlers all-round the park in the last few overs.

But UP Warriorz eventually were restricted to 169-5 in 20 overs, finishing short by 42 runs. Apart from Jonassen, Marizanne Kapp (1-29) and Shikha Pandey (1-18) were the other wicket takers for Delhi.

Earlier, put into bat, openers Shafali Verma and Meg Lanning gave Delhi Capitals a flying start. Both batters started from where they left in the previous contest and played some sublime shots to score 62 runs in the powerplay overs.

However, soon after Power-play, Tahlia McGrath was introduced into the attack and she gave UP Warriorz instant success by dismissing Shafali (17 off 14), courtesy a splendid catch by Kiran Navgire at deep square leg.

After Shafali’s wicket, Marizanne Kapp joined Lanning at the crease as Delhi continued their attacking approach. To stop the run flow, UP skipper Alyssa Healy brought world No. 1 spinner Sophie Ecclestone into the attack and she started with a couple of dots against Meg Lanning before being hit for a six towards the backward square leg region as the Delhi captain completed her half-century in 32 balls.

Lanning was carrying the momentum for Delhi before rain interrupted the proceedings. After the 20-minute halt, play was resumed and Kapp hit Deepti Sharma for a boundary and collected nine runs coming off her over but she couldn’t continue longer and got out to Ecclestone in the 11th over.

Despite wickets falling from the other end, Lanning was not hesitant in continuing her aggressive approach as she hit Ecclestone for back-to-back boundaries before Rajeshwari Gayakwad cleaned her up.

Alice Capsey, who came to bat next, dealt in boundaries and along with Jemimah Rodrigues steadied Delhi’s ship. However, Shabnim Ismail in her comeback spell dismissed Capsey to give UP some reprieve in the game. But, Jess Jonassen and Jemimah had other ideas.

The pair took some time to assess the conditions before playing their shots with Jonassen hitting three sixes and three boundaries to play a blinder at the death.

Rodrigues too played her part to perfection with some timely boundaries and was involved in an unbeaten 67-run partnership with Jonassen as Delhi Capitals posted a strong total of 211 for 4 in 20 overs.

Brief scores: Delhi Capitals 211/4 in 20 overs (Meg Lanning 70, Jess Jonassen 42 not out, Jemimah Rodrigues 34 not out; Shabnim Ismail 1-29) beat UP Warriorz 169/5 in 20 overs (Tahlia McGrath 90 not out, Alyssa Healy 24; Jess Jonassen 3-43) by 42 runs.