TACTICAL PREVIEW
Follow UsThe 14th match of WPL 2024 will also be the first and only instance of a team playing matches on consecutive days.
After playing the defending champions yesterday, UP Warriorz will have to contest the last season’s finalists, the in-form Delhi Capitals.
The home side got their home leg off to as good a start as any. Fifties from Jemimah Rodrigues and Meg Lanning helped Delhi get to 192, before their bowlers rounded off a complete performance by restricting Mumbai to just 163.
UP meanwhile ran into a wounded Mumbai Indians side, who were clinical in their approach against Alyssa Healy and co. Four losses in six games makes their remaining two games must-win encounters.
Having never the Capitals in a WPL fixture till now, a win in today’s game would be the perfect way to break that streak.
Things to watch out for
A well-oiled DC bowling unit
Delhi Capitals have been the best bowling unit in this tournament, taking a wicket every 15 balls. And if that wasn’t stunning enough, this is nearly 50% better than what the rest have managed.
They’ve ̛been aided by Jess Jonassen and Marizanne Kapp, who currently rank first and third in the leading wicket-takers list. But they will take heart from the bowler who’s sandwiched between the two international pros, Radha Yadav.
The capped spinner is coming off a fantastic domestic season, and will be eyeing a Team India comeback through this WPL. And performances like these will go a long way in helping her achieve that. On the other hand are the Warriorz, one of the most under-performing batting units.
With their loss against Mumbai on March 7, they have put their own campaign in a big jeopardy. The question for them is, will they be able to tackle a well-oiled DC bowling unit?
Grace Harris or nothing for UP Warriorz
But this WPL has seen UP’s reliance on her reach new levels. She’s played a big role in both their wins this season. Scores of 38, 17, 5 and 15 in the other four fixtures mean that you’d get no points for guessing what’s the one commonality in all their losses.
Her weaknesses against pace and the short ball notwithstanding, she’s shouldered bulk of the batting responsibilty in the middle order. If it was Shabnim Ismail yesterday, it will be Kapp today.
Can she once again raise her hand up and keep UP’s playoff hopes alive?
Don’t spin to win against DC
The last time these two sides met, DC hardly put a foot wrong with the bat in hand. Chasing a paltry 120 for a win, they lost only one wicket and reached the target without any fuss. Some of it can be attributed to the majority of overs the UP spinners tend to bowl.
The Warriorz have bowled over 15 overs of spin in each of their last four games. Even against Mumbai Indians, UP bowled 18 overs of spin and did not give Saima Thakor a third over in spite of her scalping the important wicket of Harmanpreet Kaur. Things can go pear-shaped very quickly if they continue this ploy against DC tonight.
Ground details
The three WPL games played here have all been won by the team batting first, indicating a clear difference in ease of batting while chasing. Lack of dew has meant that the surface does not really settle and instead only gets progressively worse.
Spinners have accounted for over 60% of the wickets taken in the WPL games played at the Arun Jaitley stadium, and tonight (March 8) should be no different. This can also be due to the smaller dimensions, which consequently would encourage batters to be more aggressive against spin, for they’ve also been far more expensive than pacers
Tactical insights
Meg Lanning has always been very adept while playing spin. Her numbers against the world #1 Sophie Ecclestone also suggest the same. Which is why, it might come as a surprise that Rajeshwari Gayakwad has had the former Aussie skipper’s number on numerous occasions. Lanning has been dismissed by the slow left-armer in five of the 10 innings she’s played against her, and has an average of 12.5 and a strike rate of just 109.
Chamari Athapaththu entered the WPL in great batting form, but she’s yet to replicate this in India. And if we are to go by the numbers she has against the three in-form Delhi bowlers, this won’t get any easier for the Sri Lankan.
vs Jess Jonassen: Avg - 19.5, SR - 118, dismisals - 4,
vs Marizanne Kapp: Avg - 9.8, SR - 64, dismissals - 5
vs Radha Yadav: Avg - 14.5, SR - 142, dismissals - 4
Jemimah lit up the WPL with a stroke-filled 69 against Mumbai Indians in Delhi’s last game, and will want to do an encore against the UP Warriorz tonight. There’s reason to believe that we could be in for yet another treat given her numbers against Deepti Sharma and Sophie Ecclestone. She averages 61 against the duo, and has been dismissed just twice by them in the 118 deliveries they’ve bowled to her.
Playing XIs
Delhi Capitals: Shafali Verma, Meg Lanning (C), Alice Capsey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen, Radha Yadav, Taniya Bhatia (WK), Shikha Pandey, Arundhati Reddy, Titas Sadhu
UP Warriorz: Alyssa Healy (C & WK), Kiran Navgire, Chamari Athapaththu, Grace Harris, Deepti Sharma, Shweta Sehrawat, Poonam Khemnar, Uma Chetry, Sophie Ecclestone, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Saima Thakor
