Giants edge out DC in thriller
Skipper Meg Lanning’s impactful 92 went in vain as Gujarat Giants defeated table-toppers Delhi Capitals by five wickets to register a hat-trick of wins and book their place in the Eliminator of the Women’s Premier League here on Friday.
Already through to the playoffs, Delhi Capitals rode on Lanning’s 57-ball 92, laced with 15 boundaries and a six, to pile up a competitive 177/5.
But the total was not enough as Gujarat rode on Harleen Deol’s unbeaten 70 off 49 balls and Beth Mooney’s 35-ball 44 to be in contention. Mooney and Deol shared 84 runs for the second wicket. Towards the end, skipper Ashleigh Gardner (22 off 13) and Deandra Dottin (24 off 10) helped Gujarat Giants past the target in the 20th over.
“After winning the game, you feel very pleased after scoring runs for the team,” Player of the Match Deol said. “When I was batting, the ball was not coming nicely onto the bat, so was just trying to play till the end. I knew we had batters to come, and they did what they had to do at that time.”
Lanning said DC lost wickets throughout the innings and that “stalled” them.
“That is how this tournament goes. We knew it was going to be a difficult game. Full credit to Gujarat, they put us under pressure and were too good in the end,” Lanning said. “We lost wickets throughout the innings and that stalled us. We felt it was going to get better and we felt we were 15-20 short.”
Brief scores: Delhi Capitals: 177/5 (Lanning 92, Shafali 40; Meghna 3/35, Dottin 2/37); Gujarat Giants: 178/5 (Deol 70*, Mooney 44; Pandey 2/31, Jonassen 2/38).
