Jittery DC clinch Eliminator spot
It almost happened again! This time though, the overall target was well below par and that played a part in Delhi Capitals somehow scraping through in jittery fashion against UP Warriorz to clinch their place in the Eliminator. Needing a win to qualify, DC put on a clinic to restrict UPW to 122/8 and were cruising at 83/1 after 12 overs in the chase at one stage. Four overs later, they were clearly rattled after getting reduced to 101/5 before skipper Jemimah Rodrigues stayed until the end to ensure an encore wasn't in store.
The chase kickstarted with Lizelle Lee departing early despite finding the boundary a couple of times. Thereafter, Laura Wolvaardt and Shafali Verma steadied the ship and dragged DC to 38/1 by the end of the powerplay. With the required run rate never being an issue, even Shafali was content to bide her time. Both batters also were aided by reprieves on the field and made good use of it. Wolvaardt at one point turned on the heat by smacking Kranti Gaud for four boundaries in the space of five balls as DC were well positioned at the halfway point at 70/1.
Shafali actually took a backseat to Wolvaardt as the South African made merry to firmly put her side on course for an easy win. But it was her dismissal in the 13th over that triggered a big collapse to cause panic in the DC camp. Shikha Pandey struck in her final over to get rid of Shafali before Sophie Ecclestone and Deepti Sharma bagged the big wickets of Marizanne Kapp and Chinelle Henry, leaving Rodrigues stranded. The skipper relieved some pressure with a sweep shot that went for a boundary before bringing out a lofted cover drive in the following over to drag DC closer. She eventually put the contest to bed with back-to-back boundaries in the penultimate over to erase the ghosts of the recent past.
The win however was set up by her bowlers earlier in the evening. Meg Lanning, their former skipper, was sent packing first ball of the contest as Henry trapped her lbw. While Deepti and Charli Knott tried to reverse the pressure with a flurry of boundaries, Kapp got rid of them both in successive overs to round off the powerplay in fantastic fashion for DC. The procession continued as Shree Charani kickstarted her spell with a wicket first ball as Harleen Deol departed for a scratchy 11-ball 3.
Kapp then came back into the attack to finish her spell at the halfway mark and the move paid off as the South African bagged the key wicket of Deandra Dottin that further added to UPW's misery. At 52/5 after 10 overs, there was certainly no way out for the batting side. Simran Shaikh added some crucial runs before her departure and then the likes of Asha Sobhana and Pandey made some meaningful contributions as well that saw UPW drag themselves past the 120-run mark. Given how the contest finished, 10-12 more runs could have easily made a massive difference. DC will now face Gujarat Giants in the Eliminator with the winner taking on Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the final.
Brief scores: UP Warriorz 122/8 in 20 overs (Deepti Sharma 24; Marizanne Kapp 3/30, Shree Charani 2/22) lost to Delhi Capitals 126/5 in 18.4 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 47, Jemimah Rodrigues 34*; Deepti Sharma 2/27) by 5 wickets
