Delhi Capitals eye Eliminator spot with win over UP Warriorz

Delhi Capitals face UP Warriorz in a must-win Women’s Premier League clash in Vadodara. A victory will secure them an Eliminator spot against Gujarat Giants, while a Warriorz win could bring Mumbai Indians back into contention through net run rate

Vadodara: Lack of runs from some of their top batters notwithstanding, Delhi Capitals will have their fate in their own hands as they look for a win against UP Warriorz in the final league match of the Women’s Premier League here on Sunday.

A win for DC will send them straight to the Eliminator against Gujarat Giants with eight points for a third-place finish in the league, knocking defending champions Mumbai Indians out of contention.

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On the other hand, a victory for bottom-placed UP Warriorz could open the door for Mumbai. In that situation, all three sides — Mumbai, DC and Warriorz — will be on six points each and net run rate (NRR) will decide who faces Gujarat Giants in the Eliminator for a place in the final.

Of the three, Warriorz have the worst NRR of minus 1.146, while DC have minus 0.164. MI have the best NRR of the three with plus 0.059.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru have already booked a direct place in the final after topping the five-team standings with six wins from eight matches.

DC’s top-order batters have not scored too many runs this season, with South African Lizelle Lee being the most prolific with 230 runs from seven matches. South African star Laura Wolvaardt has made 194 from seven games, much below expectations.

Shafali Verma has been inconsistent with 179 runs from seven matches and DC will hope for a big contribution from the Indian opener in the crunch match.

New captain Jemimah Rodrigues has contributed even less with 132 runs from seven matches, and a big knock from her could lift the team. Her highest has been 51 not out so far.

In the bowling front too, DC’s foreign recruits have been below par, with experienced South African Marizanne Kapp and West Indian Chinelle Henry managing just seven and six wickets respectively. India bowlers Sneh Rana and Minnu Mani have also struggled.

In fact, DC’s wicket-taking duties this season have been mainly shouldered by two youngsters — uncapped pacer Nandani Sharma (14 wickets from 7 matches) and India left-arm spinner Shree Charani (12 wickets from 7 matches).

The Warriorz, on the other hand, are coming in after two consecutive losses, the latest being an 8-wicket defeat at the hands of RCB on Friday. Scoring a below-par 143 for 8 and then losing the match in just 13.1 overs must have dented their confidence, but they will need to regroup quickly.

Except for the Australian duo of captain Meg Lanning (248 from 7 matches) and Phoebe Litchfield (243 from 6 matches), all other batters have failed to perform this season. Litchfield’s absence due to injury will also hurt them.

Their bowling department has also failed to impress, with England’s Sophie Ecclestone (6 wickets from 7 matches) and India’s Deepti Sharma (5 from 7 matches) producing below-par performances. The star duo needs to deliver something special on Sunday if the Warriorz want a big win and a chance to sneak into the Eliminator.

Teams (from):
Delhi Capitals: Jemimah Rodrigues (c), Taniya Bhatia, Chinelle Henry, Lizelle Lee, Niki Prasad, Shafali Verma, Laura Wolvaardt, Lucy Hamilton, Marizanne Kapp, Alana King, Sneh Rana, Pragati Singh, Minnu Mani, Nandani Sharma, Shree Charani, Eddla Srujana.

UP Warriorz: Meg Lanning (c), Harleen Deol, Shipra Giri, Amy Jones, Kiran Navgire, Pratika Rawal, Simran Shaikh, Gongadi Trisha, Deandra Dottin, Charli Knott, Shikha Pandey, Shweta Sehrawat, Deepti Sharma, Asha Sobhana, Chloe Tryon, Sophie Ecclestone, Kranti Gaud, Suman Meena.

Match starts at 7:30 pm.