The 9th match of the Women’s T20 League was played between Delhi and Gujarat at the DY Patil Sports Academy Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday, 11 March 2023. Delhi won their first two games of the tournament, but Mumbai thumped them by 8 wickets with 5 overs to spare in the previous contest.
On the other hand, Gujarat, who lost their first two games of the season, finally managed to open their account with a win against the Bangalore-based franchise as Sophia Dunkley and Harleen Deol chipped in with significant contributions.
Coming to this game, Meg Lanning-led team managed to restrict the Gujarat-based franchise to a paltry total of 106 runs, thanks to Marizanne Kapp’s excellent five-wicket haul and Shikha Pandey’s three-wicket haul. Kapp was absolutely sensational with the new ball as she bagged early wickets with her sharp nip-backers and put the opposition under tremendous pressure.
She was given an extended spell by Lanning, and Kapp made sure to pick her fifth wicket in her final over. Gujarat looked in deep trouble but Harleen, Georgia Wareham, and Kim Garth chipped in with handy contributions to take the team total over the 100-run mark but it wasn’t looking enough to defend as the Delhi batting line-up was already in great form.
I was trying to give my best: Shafali Verma
The target wasn’t a big one, to chase, but Delhi openers, especially Shafali Verma absolutely demolished it in just 7.1 overs. Shafali smashed her half-century in just 19 deliveries and played an unbeaten knock of 76 runs off 28 balls after beating the living daylights out of Gujarat. She also talked about her innings in the post-match interview.
“I wasn’t in a hurry, but I was trying to give my best during the run chase. Now we can rest and enjoy ourselves. I got out while playing flick in the last match, so I tried to play straight tonight. I would like to thank Lanning for her advice. I want to work hard in the future and keep scoring and playing in the same way. We (openers) tried to give our best for the team, and we managed to do so. We backed ourselves during the chase, kept talking to each other, and you know such smalls things matter as a player. “
Here’s how fans reacted:
@klrahul once again see this bro and change your mindset, SR never ever is overrated, Watch the knock of Safali once again
— Manjit🏏 (@CricManjit) March 11, 2023
Now some shameless pakistani fans will compare WPL with their tinpot PSL 🤣🤣😂😂
— ..𝑯𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒚..𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓.. (@KBC03931185) March 11, 2023
Money is the power of our energy, World Cup 😅
— legend (@SanjayY19977957) March 11, 2023
Energy pic.twitter.com/HWQ875zOiT
— Ravi Dhakad (@Nagar_ravi21) March 11, 2023
She' knock 👏 is better than babar Azam's greatest knock
— Mg_ma (@immgmonty) March 11, 2023
Mi vs DC final and
Mi wining First WPL— Sidharth ( MS.Dhoni ) (@ChartbusterSid5) March 11, 2023
Shafali Verma today pic.twitter.com/z2maypxUS7
— ▄︻̷̿┻̿═━一 (@NO_VIS0R) March 11, 2023
Top 3 teams – MI, DC, UP waariorz.
— Divyanshu Shrimali (@DivyanshuShrim1) March 11, 2023
