DC storm into 4th consecutive final with dominant win over GG

An all-round performance by Delhi Capitals powered them to their first win of the season against Gujarat Giants, and paved the way for their fourth successive appearance in the Women's Premier League final. After restricting Gujarat Giants to 168 for 7, they stormed their way to the target in only 15.4 overs, with seven wickets in hand, undoing the efforts of Beth Mooney and Georgia Wareham, the two Australians who reserved their best performance of the season for the critical Eliminator. Lizelle Lee went off the back foot in the eighth over of the chase and missed a flick off Wareham. Prior to that, her leg was stuck. Shafali Verma inside edged a cut to her stumps on the final ball of that over. The double-wicket over had the potential to end the Delhi Capitals' charge or, at the very least, to spice things up. However, that was not to be. It was all but an anomaly in an otherwise one-sided run-chase. On a slow surface where it was difficult to make runs, Jemimah Rodrigues and Laura Wolvaardt later joined Shafali and Lee earlier to mock the Giants' total. Giants had won all their contests this season batting first, including the two they played against Capitals. Yet, Rodrigues elected to field after winning the toss. Giants enjoyed yet another high-scoring powerplay, equalling the lowest they had scored in this tournament - 48. However, this time, they had lost three of their top four by then, and firmly pushed on the backfoot. The early movement had contained their openers following Devine's boundary, which flew over the slips. One of the outswingers, by Chinelle Henry, took the outside edge to the 'keeper to send back Devine. Anushka Sharma and Mooney revived the innings for a brief period, with the latter cutting loose against Kapp in the fifth over, and helping the side pick 17 runs, but Nandni Sharma struck twice in her last over to undo the steady start. A diving Henry caught an excellent clip from Anushka at mid-on, and Gardner's thick edge flew to Sneh Rana at wide slip. A few overs later, Kanika Ahuja was stumped off Minnu Mani, and by the 11th over, Giants were firmly on the backfoot at 71 for 4 - with no boundaries scored for 33 balls. However, Mooney's presence loomed large. She got going by stepping out against Shree Charani and slammed her for a boundary. She, on the other hand, played a supporting role as Georgia Wareham continued to make boundary shots. The all-rounder was cheeky with Kapp's backhand, cut Nandni's slower delivery, swept Minnu, and lofted Shree Charani inside out for a six. DC's momentum could have been reversed by Henry's double-wicket 17th over, but Mooney saved her best for the final. She took the dominant role in the death overs to lead Giants' charge. She hit three boundaries off Henry in the final over before pulling for a boundary to reduce the Giants' score to 168 for 7, their lowest total against the Capitals this season. As satisfied as the Giants camp was with the revival of their innings, and with the total which was above par on the surface and the standards of the Kotambi leg, it turned out to be too little, as exposed by the early blitz of Lee and Shafali. It began with Lee pulling Renuka Thakur for a boundary off the second ball. However, Shafali's real rampage began in the third over, destroying Rajeshwari Gayakwad for three boundaries and then Devine for 17 runs. Thereafter, no one was spared. Lee joined Renuka in the fight after the pacer was run out for 21, and the South African hit a boundary and a six off Gayakwad. All of this was happening where the bounce was slightly unpredictable. Nonetheless, those 20 balls cost Giants 62 runs and totally sucked the contest out of their control. Wareham's double strike and a couple of quiet overs to follow did allow them to keep the pressure up, but the required rate had come close to run-a-ball. However, Rodrigues and Wolvaardt ensured that there was no way back for them. The boundaries continued to flow from the second half of the 12th over, with the DC captain taking down her counterpart. Gayakwad, Wareham, and Devine couldn't work together to make much of a difference. There were some slip-ups on the field, there were good efforts, but there was little threat to the class of the DC duo. Rodrigues, who repeatedly attempted to back away from her stumps and attack Gayakwad, eventually fell in her attempt to go over the in-field. However, by then, the target was in sight, and five balls later, Wolvaardt lofted Wareham over the in-field for a boundary to help seal DC's place in yet another final.