Meg Lanning Credits Niki Prasad After She Takes Delhi Home In A Tense Chase

The Delhi Capitals (DC) began the 2025 Women’s Premier League (WPL) season on a high after winning a last-ball thriller against the inaugural season champions, Mumbai Indians (MI), by just two wickets.

Batting first, Mumbai were bowled out for 164 in a roller coaster innings held together by Nat Sciver-Brunt’s brilliant 80* off just 59 deliveries. Shikha Pandey was spectacular with the ball, bowling her four overs for just 14 runs and picking two wickets. Annabel Sutherland also bowled well and picked 3/34 in 3.1 overs. 

The Capitals had a great start with the bat, with Shafali Verma scoring 43 off just 18 deliveries. However, wickets fell in a flurry and from 60/0, DC were 76/4 in three overs. That’s when Niki Prasad came and took DC closer to the target along with Sarah Bryce (21 off just 10 deliveries). 

Amidst a lot of run-out drama, Radha Yadav smashed a crucial when DC needed 16 off 7, and eventually, DC won the game by two wickets. 

The nerve-wracking game was too much for skipper Meg Lanning, who was quite relieved to see her team cross the line. 

“Not too many stressful days like that,” Lanning said after the match. 

“They looked like getting to 200. Pandey, in particular, bowled well. There were patches where we were going well with the bat but Mumbai came back well. I had an idea what I wanted to look like. Minnu did well. You have to keep changing. 

“When batters are set, you can't let them face the same thing twice, so I kept changing. Niki did an excellent job to come in at a tricky time. Radha Yadav also hitting that six. T20 is about impact play, and I thought we did that well.”

MI skipper Harmanpreet Kaur meanwhile wished that her batters could take more responsibility in the upcoming games and not lose their wickets after getting set. 

“Even though we could not set a decent total, I thought we would cross 200 when Nat and I were batting,” Harmanpreet remarked.

“Those five balls we did not bat cost us. Ismail is a great bowler. She gives us the privilege of getting us breakthroughs. Sajana did well for us in practice games. Unfortunately, we misfielded her bowling, and that cost her. 

“The first thing is that we want to play 20 overs. We have to bat a full 20 overs. And the set batter should back 20 overs. When I was in, I should have continued longer. This type of collapse happen, but our batters need to take more responsibility in the next game.”