Bengaluru: An inspired bowling display by Marizanne Kapp and Radha Yadav, followed by Shafali Verma’s clean striking helped Delhi Capitals secure a facile nine-wicket win over UP Warriorz in the WPL at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday.
Shafali (64) and skipper Meg Lanning (51) put up a 119-run partnership to help last year’s runners-up to a Net Run Rate-boosting victory.
Meg opted to bowl first, and the seasoned Marizanne Kapp (3/5) put on a masterful exhibition of swing bowling that had the UP Warriorz batters prodding and poking in vain.
Marizanne bowled a tight line outside the off-stump and got prodigious movement off the deck, pinning the largely right-handed top order down with 19 dot balls to record outstanding figures of 4-1-5-3 with an economy of 1.25.
Vrinda Dinesh was first to fall after she chased a wide out-swinger and failed to clear third-man. Tahlia McGrath was undone by an absolute peach as Marizanne got one to straighten off the deck and crash into off stump.
The South African let out a cheeky grin in celebration, and the smile got a smidge wider five balls later when Alyssa Healy failed to clear Shafali at mid-off.
Boundaries were hard to come by, and Radha Yadav (4/20) made the most of the batters’ desperation. In identical fashion, both Grace Harris and Kiran Navgire fell to mis-timed hoicks one ball after muscling a four and a six respectively.
Birthday girl Shweta Sehrawat scored a counter-attacking 45. Shweta was not afraid to step down the track and use her quick hands to hit through the line, and attacked both pace and spin alike.
Nearing her maiden half-century, the 20-year-old fell victim to the crafty Radha, who had her stumped before dismissing Sophie Ecclestone on the final ball of the innings as the Warriorz posted a sub-par total of 119/9. DC got off to a flier in the chase, with Shafali Varma leading the charge.
Shafali cracked some splendid lofted drives and four massive sixes, while Meg Lanning rode her luck initially but found her range with some sweeps and dabs to secure a comfortable win.
Brief scores:
UP Warriorz: 119/9 in 20 overs (Shweta Sehrawat 45; Marizanne Kapp 3-5, Radha Yadav 4-20) lt to Delhi Capitals: 123/1 in 14.3 overs (Meg Lanning 51, Shafali Verma 64 n.o.). PoM: Marizanne Kapp.