Delhi Capitals prevail in nail-biting chase

After a historic opening game that had seen a record total being chased, it was another thrilling day in the Women's Premier League as Delhi Capitals registered a two-wicket win over Mumbai Indians in Vadodara. This was the highest total ever scaled successfully by any team against Mumbai Indians in the short WPL history.

Mumbai posted an under-par total of 164 on the back of Nat Sciver-Brunt's efforts (80* off 59) and a fiery cameo from skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (42 off 22). The chase seemed a formality for DC with the way Shafali Verma (42 off 18) started but regular wickets by Mumbai meant that the game went right to the end. With two needed off the final ball, Radha Yadav and Arundhati Reddy sneaked a brace with the latter putting a dive that just about saved her side.

That the game was bound to be a roller-coaster ride was evident from the tempo of the first innings itself. Shikha Pandey (2 for 14) was exceptional with the new ball and hunted down two massive MI scalps very early. The pacer had Hayley Matthews nicking a drive to Meg Lanning at slip, and also cleaned up the other opening batter in Yastika Bhatia. However, Sciver-Brunt and Kaur then decided to counterpunch during a phase of exciting strokeplay. The latter in particular seemed in the mood to go after everything from ball one. With dew also setting in early, fireworks were on as MI eased past 100 in the 11th over.

Kaur hit some powerful sixes while Sciver-Brunt was at her dexterous best, accessing all parts of the ground with aplomb. It seemed like another 200-plus total would happen but it was once again Delhi's turn to land a few punches. Annabel Sutherland, after getting a bit of stick early on, got rid of Kaur to break the threatening stand. DC then got a massive moment of luck as Sciver-Brunt's blistering drive got a tiny deflection off Minnu Mani on her follow-through and hit the stumps at the bowler's end, catching Amelia Kerr well short.

Sutherland then took out Sajana while Alice Capsey derailed Amanjot Kaur as MI's inexperienced lower middle order crumbled. Sciver-Brunt at the other end played her shots but as the innings went deeper, she was mostly left stranded at the other end. In the end, MI ended with a total that was about 20-25 runs short of the par score. It seemed even smaller with the way Shafali started the chase. She took on Saika Ishaque, slamming the left-arm spinner for 22 in her first over, including four boundaries and a six. Lanning also struck a few boundaries but it was Shafali who dominated the PowerPlay.

Having raced to 60/0, Shafali fell to a soft dismissal against Matthews although the West Indian had also got hammered in the same over. Nevertheless, it was a much-needed strike for MI who then struck quickly once more through Shabnim Ismail. The South African veteran continued to have the wood over Lanning as she castled the Australian with a pacy inswinger. Jemimah Rodrigues then chipped a harmless leg break from Kerr straight to Kaur at extra cover, which meant that 60/0 suddenly became 66/3. Sutherland fell soon after as her intent to attack the bowling saw her being dismantled by Sciver-Brunt.

The contest continued to see-saw as debutant Niki Prasad (35 off 33) stitched a handy 33-run stand with Capsey although the latter never looked settled at the crease. It was Kerr who struck again when the Englishwoman holed out to long-on after the final time-out. By now MI had started to regain control of the game with the asking rate climbing beyond 11 runs-per-over. On her WPL debut, Sarah Bryce then made a significant intervention through a whirlwind 10-ball cameo that yielded 21, including a huge six against Sciver-Brunt. She fell but DC continued to hang in there with the odd boundary here and there.

There were two hugely debatable moments during this phase, both being run out referrals. Pandey seemed to be run out but the third umpire Gayatri Venugopal ruled in favour of the batter, because the LED bails had lit up when the bat was on the line but the bails hadn't come off the groove. This has always been a debatable topic since the LED bails came into effect and while Pandey soon got run out, another similar moment occurred. This time, it was Radha Yadav who seemed to be marginally short of her crease but once again, the third umpire went with the batter.

This proved more significant as Radha smashed the next ball for a six, to bring down the equation from 16 off 7 to 10 needed off the final over. Amidst all the mayhem, Prasad hung in there and she started the final over with a boundary although it was aided by a fielding lapse

With two needed off two balls, Prasad miscued one to deep mid-wicket, leaving DC with a nail-biting final act. It helped that Reddy was no mug with the bat but she nearly perished. It was a sliced drive that just about cleared Kaur at extra cover and Reddy then put in a big dive even as Bhatia whipped off the bails. The third umpire had the final say in the game.

Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 164 in 19.1 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 80*, Harmanpreet Kaur 42; Shikha Pandey 2-14) lost to Delhi Capitals 165-8 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 43, Niki Prasad 35; Amelia Kerr 2-21) by two wickets