WPL 2024, 15th Match: UP Warriorz Women vs. Delhi Capitals Women – Who Said What?

In an exciting encounter on Friday, March 8 at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, UP Warriorz Women defeated Delhi Capitals Women by one run, ending their four-match winning streak. UP chose to bat first and thanks to a half-century from Deepti Sharma, they amassed a respectable score of 138/8 in the 20 overs given. Deepti Sharma, who picked 4/19 in four overs, was brilliant with the ball as well, helping Delhi be bowled out for 137 in response.

Early in the fourth over of the chase, Delhi lost their opener, Shafali Verma (15 off 12). Meg Lanning, the skipper, though, carried on her fantastic run, hitting her fourth half-century of the year. She was the only other hitter who had success, but DC was still in a strong position to win the match with six wickets remaining and only 15 runs needed to win the final two overs.

Nevertheless, UP pulled off a stunning comeback, capturing six wickets in the final two overs to win the match by a single run. Earlier in the day, UP lost their opener, Kiran Navgire (5 off 5) against Titas Sadhu, in the second over of play after choosing to bat first.

Following the early blow, Alyssa Healy (29 off 30) and Deepti Sharma (46 runs for the second wicket off 45 balls) stabilized the score. Alice Capsey ended their alliance by sending Healy back into the pavilion.

Tahlia McGrath (3 off 4), Grace Harris (14 off 12), Shweta Sehrawat (4 off 3) and Poonam Khemnar (1 off 4) all left cheaply as UP collapsed after a strong partnership. To help her team to a total of 138/8 in the allocated 20 overs, Deepti Sharma held one end and hit her second consecutive fifty of the season.

Following the match, the two captains and the Player of the Match said the following:

Winning captain, Alyssa Healy, UP Warriorz, said:

I thought… this is exactly cricket, anything can happen. Great game of cricket, what a showcase for our sport on International Women’s Day. Probably didn’t get the partnerships we were after. We spoke about 150 being a competitive total. I think Deepti did really well but we needed a few more partnerships. Only when we got that last wicket did we feel we’d truly won it. When 2 of 2 are needed and you need 1 wicket, you’re never really sure. Can’t fault the girls irrespective of the result, proud of their effort. We held our nerve when we needed to and got the job done. Really proud of the girls.

Losing captain Meg Lanning, Delhi Capitals women, said:

Disappointed not to win, felt like we got into a pretty good position to get it done. Full credit to the Warriorz. My wicket probably played a little part in it, I was the set batter and probably had to take it a little deeper, my wicket put pressure on the rest of us. Probably didn’t play the conditions as well as we could have but as a captain, I shouldn’t have put my team in that position. We certainly did a lot of things right, think we did well to pull them back towards the end and also batted pretty well. Goes to show that if you can’t string it together for 40 overs it’s hard to win.

Player of the Match, Deepti Sharma, UP Warriorz, said:

I backed my strengths and shots. Was thinking of what shots were on and was reading the situation. Was thinking of how we can bowl dots to the set batters, I like challenges when I’m bowling as well. (On being asked if she knew she picked up a hat-trick) No, I didn’t know. I always stay ready for a caught and bowled. Was always thinking of how we can get the game back. Want to keep the process the same, there is no limit to learning and I want to keep learning.