Left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen took three wickets to lead a fantastic complete bowling effort as Delhi Capitals beat Mumbai Indians by 29 runs to kickstart their home leg of Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on a high.
After fifties from Jemimah Rodrigues (69 not out) and Meg Lanning (53) carried Delhi to an imposing 192/4, every Delhi bowler, barring Arundhati Reddy, were amongst the wickets and took early scalps to push the defending champions on the back foot. Eventually, Mumbai made 163/8, to fall short by 29 runs as Delhi retained its top spot on the points table.
Mumbai’s chase began on a horror note as Yastika Bhatia was castled while trying to pull off Marizanne Kapp in the opening over. Shikha Pandey joined the wicket-takers party when her inswinger castled Nat Sciver-Brunt. Marizanne clinched her second wicket when she drew a leading edge from a returning Harmanpreet Kaur’s bat and was caught at backward point. Hayley Matthews tried to resurrect Mumbai’s innings by hitting six fours in her 17-ball 29 and was even dropped by Taniyaa Bhatia.
But a ball later, Hayley’s hurried knock ended when she pulled straight to mid-wicket off Jess Jonassen. Amelia Kerr also fell after hitting a four and six, holing out to long-on to become Titas Sadhu’s first WPL scalp, as half of Mumbai’s side fell at 68 in 8.5 overs.
Amanjot Kaur hit seven decent boundaries in her 27-ball 47, including a reverse scoop on a short ball from Shikha Pandey. But her fine knock came to an end when she walked across to paddle sweep, only to see her stumps being rattled by Jess. From there, despite some boundaries from Pooja Vastrakar (17 off 22 balls) and Sajana Sajeevan (24 not out off 14 balls), the result was a foregone conclusion as Jonassen ended with 3-21.
Brief scores:
Delhi Capitals 192/4 in 20 overs (Jemimah Rodrigues 69 not out, Meg Lanning 53; Pooja Vastrakar 1-20, Hayley Matthews 1-23) beat Mumbai Indians 163/8 in 20 overs (Amanjot Kaur 42, Hayley Matthews 29; Jess Jonassen 3-21, Marizanne Kapp 2-37) by 29 runs.
