Capitals of Delhi 129 for 3 (Shafali 71, Rodrigues 38*, Kanwar 2-20) won Giants of Gujarat 126 for 9 (Fulmali 42, Bryce 28*, Mani 2-9, Kapp 2-17, Pandey 2-23) with seven wickets
But they didn’t happen there, and neither did Cap. She and Jess Jonassen partnered, not for the first time, taking two more wickets in quick succession as Gujarat Giants reached 16 for 3 in five overs.
Kapp’s second delivery landed a little back in the channel and then was cut slowly, drawing interest from Mooney, who was hit hard. Kapp’s fifth, on a similar length but this time on leg stump, cut Mooney down the middle and had Capitals wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia darting to her right to collect. But the next ball was this one, on a length and on leg stump, Mooney tried to flick it away through fine leg only to see it bounce off her thigh and into the wood.
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Shabnam Shakil survived the hat-trick ball but it was the first of two quick run outs, with Meghna Singh following, before Bryce hit Jonassen’s final delivery through the off side for four to remain unbeaten, but with huge doubt as to whether the Giants had close enough.
The Capitals gave the distinct impression they had somewhere to be – the final, to be exact – when Meg Lanning and Shafali reached 31 not out after three overs. Lanning started it with four fours in five balls off Bryce’s first over, his second of the chase. Shafali then hit three off Shabnam in the next over before Lanning ran out, sent back by her partner after nudging Kanwar’s first ball to where Wolvaardt gathered and bowled to wicketkeeper Mooney as Lanning dived in vain, gone for 18 off 10.
The Giants would have been happy to remove Alice Kapsey, who was taken at mid-off for a four-ball duck from Kanwar moments later to make it 31 for 2. But Shafali continued as she had started, hitting six of Meghna in contrast to a glorious 91m effort to start Gardner’s first and another down the ground to finish. Gardner came in for more punishment on Shafali in her second over, a four to the right of long-on and a six over the fence in the same area to take the Capitals to 82 for 2 after 10 overs.
Jemimah Rodrigues bowled Mannat Kashyap for six of her own before Shafali brought up her fifty with an extra cover four overs and the runs continued to flow, Meghna conceding 20 runs from the 12th over as the Capitals moved within 10 of victory . Shafali’s defiant four down the ground from Kanwar brought them within a whisker, but her dismissal moments later was looking to wrap it up, but picking Litchfield at mid-on meant that while he departed with a magnificent 71 off just 37 balls, Rodrigues was the one who hit the winning overs, a crisp four from Mannat.