Kamal Ghorui
Delhi Capitals produced a dominant all-round performance to book their place in a fourth straight Women’s Premier League final, beating Gujarat Giants by seven wickets in the Eliminator on Tuesday.After choosing to bowl, Delhi’s disciplined attack kept Gujarat to a competitive but manageable 168 for 7. The Capitals struck early through Chinelle Henry, who removed Sophie Devine and later returned to finish with 3 for 35. Nandini Sharma made an immediate impact in her first over, dismissing Anushka Sharma and captain Ashleigh Gardner off successive deliveries to leave the Giants in trouble. Spinners Minnu Mani and Sneh Rana tightened the screws through the middle overs, restricting the flow of runs and forcing Gujarat to rebuild.Beth Mooney held the innings together with a composed unbeaten 62 off 51 balls, hitting six boundaries. She found support from Georgia Wareham, who played a lively 35-run knock as the pair added 61 for the fifth wicket. Mooney later combined with Kashvee Gautam for a late flourish, helping Gujarat add valuable runs in the final overs after struggling for momentum earlier.In reply, Delhi made light work of the chase thanks to a blistering opening partnership. Shafali Verma and Lizelle Lee came out attacking, smashing 89 runs without loss in just a few overs. Verma struck 31 off 21 balls while Lee made 43 off 24, peppering the boundary and putting Gujarat on the back foot. Although Wareham briefly revived Gujarat’s hopes by dismissing both openers in the same over, the damage had already been done.Laura Wolvaardt and skipper Jemimah Rodrigues calmly guided the chase through the middle phase, ensuring there were no further hiccups. Rodrigues scored a fluent 41 while Wolvaardt remained unbeaten on 32. Marizanne Kapp eventually hit the winning runs as Delhi reached the target in just 15.4 overs.The comprehensive win underlined Delhi Capitals’ consistency in the league and set up a final clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Thursday.
