Capsey caps off Delhi’s passage to WPL final

It was quite an outing for Alice Capsey. The 18-year-old from England took three wickets, dropped two sitters (one off her own bowling) and then smoked a brisk 34 to help Delhi Capitals to a comfortable five-wicket win over UP Warriorz.

!@DelhiCapitals win their final league stage game 5️⃣ wickets & 13 balls to spare to mark their entry to the #TATAWPL FINAL 🙌🏻🙌🏻
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/r4rFmhENd7#TATAWPL | #UPWvDC pic.twitter.com/4BwnCeSnbO
— Women’s Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 21, 2023
The victory cemented their place in Sunday’s inaugural final of the Women’s Premier League where they will take on the winner of the Eliminator between Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz.
Chasing a modest total of 139, Capitals skipper Meg Lanning looked in a hurry. She took 20 runs of Shabnim Ismail’s first over, hitting three boundaries and a six. The first over set the tone and the Capitals never looked back.
Lanning and Shafali Verma put on a quickfire fifty-plus stand. Just when Shafali (21 off 16b) seemed in full flow, hitting a couple of boundaries off debutant Soppadhandi Yashasri, her cameo was cut short after Sophie Ecclestone took an excellent catch at long-off.
After being hammered Lanning in her first over, Ismail came back roaring. She first trapped Jemimah Rodrigues (3) in front and then won the battle against Lanning (39). Ismail dug one short and Lanning found Simran Shaikh at deep square leg.
The quick wickets of Shafali, Jemimah and Lanning slowed down the scoring rate. But Capsey seized the momentum, hitting three boundaries off compatriot Ecclestone to break the shackles.

Capsey and Marizanne Kapp (34 not out) put on 60 runs for the fourth wicket to put Capitals on the cusp of victory. Kapp finished the match with a boundary with 13 balls to spare.
Earlier, Tahlia McGrath added some bite to a dull and scratchy UP Warriorz innings. She smashed 29 runs off the last 10 deliveries, 19 coming off Capsey’s last over. McGrath remained unbeaten on 58 of 32 balls and helped her side post 138 on the board after being put into bat.
Delhi Capitals wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia’s glovework was impressive. She affected four stumpings in an otherwise shoddy fielding effort her team. They dropped three dollies, one captain Lanning and two Capsey.

The Warriorz got off to a flier, courtesy Shweta Sehrawat. The youngster opened her account with two glorious boundaries off Shikha Pandey’s bowling. She then showed her deft touch steering one to third man off Kapp and then paddle-swept one to fine leg of Jess Jonassen.
But just when it looked as if Shweta was set for a big one, she was dismissed Radha Yadav.
Skipper Alyssa Healy, at the other end, struggled for timing and once Shweta got out, the scoring rate also went down as Warriorz managed only 38 in the Powerplay.
Simran Shaikh, promoted to No. 3, never got going. It took her 17 balls to hit her first boundary. Yadav put her out of her misery as she departed for a painful 23-ball 11.
Brief Scores:
UP Warriorz 138/6 in 20 overs (Tahlia McGrath 58 not out, Alyssa Healy 36; Alice Capsey 3/26, Radha Yadav 2/28) lost to Delhi Capitals 142/5 in 17.5 overs (Meg Lanning 39, Alice Capsey 34, Marizanne Kapp 34 not out; Shabnim Ismail 2/29) five wickets