All-round DC vanquish Giants ghosts, set up title clash with RCB

An all-round performance by Delhi Capitals powered them to their first win of the season against Gujarat Giants, and paved the way for their fourth successive appearance in the Women's Premier League final. After restricting Gujarat Giants to 168 for 7, they stormed their way to the target in only 15.4 overs, with seven wickets in hand.

The eighth over of the chase began with Lizelle Lee trapped leg before by Georgia Wareham. The last ball of that over ended with Shafali Verma inside edging a cut on to her stumps. The double-wicket over threatened to derail Delhi Capitals' charge, but it proved an anomaly in an otherwise one-sided run-chase.

Shafali and Lee earlier, and Jemimah Rodrigues and Laura Wolvaardt later combined to make a mockery of Giants' total on a slow surface.

Giants had won all their contests this season batting first, including the two they played against Capitals. Yet, Rodrigues elected to field after winning the toss.

Giants scored 48 in the powerplay but lost three of their top four batters. After Sophie Devine got off the mark with a boundary, she edged Chinelle Henry to the keeper. Beth Mooney and Anushka Sharma revived the innings briefly, with Mooney cutting loose against Marizanne Kapp in the fifth over for 17 runs. However, Nandni Sharma struck twice in her last over to undo the steady start, removing Sharma and Ash Gardner.

By the 11th over, Giants were 71 for 4, with no boundaries scored for 33 balls. Mooney's presence loomed large. She got going by stepping out and slamming a boundary. However, she played the secondary role as Georgia Wareham picked the boundary shots. The all-rounder got cheeky with Kapp's back of a length delivery, cut Nandni's slower delivery, swept Minnu Mani, and lofted Shree Charani inside out for a six.

Henry's double-wicket 17th over threatened to pull the momentum back in DC's favour, but Mooney reserved her best for the last. She thumped three boundaries off Henry in the penultimate over, and finished the innings with a pull for a boundary to take Giants to 168 for 7.

It began with Lee pulling Renuka Thakur for a boundary off the second ball. But the real rampage started from the third over, with Shafali taking apart Rajeshwari Gayakwad for three boundaries, and then taking apart Devine for 17 runs. Lee joined the act against Renuka as the pacer was put away for 21 runs. All of this was happening where the bounce was slightly unpredictable.

Those 20 balls cost Giants 62 runs and totally sucked the contest out of their control. Wareham's double strike and a couple of quiet overs did allow them to keep the pressure up, but the required rate had come close to run-a-ball. Rodrigues and Wolvaardt ensured that there was no way back.

The boundaries continued to flow from the second half of the 12th over, with the DC captain taking down her counterpart. Devine, Wareham and Gayakwad couldn't combine to make much of a difference.

Rodrigues, who repeatedly attempted to back away from her stumps and attack Gayakwad, eventually fell in her attempt to go over the in-field. However, by then, the target was in sight, and five balls later, Wolvaardt lofted Wareham over the in-field for a boundary to help seal DC's place in yet another final.

Brief Scores: Gujarat Giants 168/7 in 20 overs (Beth Mooney 62*, Georgia Wareham 35; Chenille Henry 3-35, Nandni Sharma 2-44) lost to Delhi Capitals 169/3 in 15.4 overs (Lizelle Lee 43, Jemimah Rodrigues 41; Georgia Wareham 2-28) by 7 wickets.