Shafali Verma stuns Gujarat Giants as Delhi Capitals win with 77 balls to spare

Verma smashed an unbeaten 76 off just 28 balls after Marizanne Kapp had taken five wickets for Delhi Capitals

Nick Friend | 11/03/2023 at 16:24

Mumbai: Gujarat Giants 105-9, Delhi Capitals 107-0 - Delhi Capitals win by 10 wickets

Marizanne Kapp and Shafali Verma starred as Delhi Capitals hammered Gujarat Giants by 10 wickets as they returned to winning ways.

South African allrounder Kapp picked up a five-wicket haul within the first seven overs of the match as Gujarat's top order was blown away in double-quick time.

India opener Verma (76*) then broke the back of a meagre run-chase with a 19-ball half century as 87 runs came from the powerplay. Ash Gardner, the £320,000 allrounder, was taken for 22 in her solitary over. Georgia Wareham only entered the attack with three runs to defend.

But the game was won in its first half, when Kapp cleaned up both Giants openers – S Meghana and Laura Wolvaardt – before trapping Gardner in front for a first-ball duck and having Harleen Deol lbw on review with an off-cutter.

In between, Dayalan Hemalatha edged a wide flash off Shikha Pandey to wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia to give the scorecard another name, before Kapp slid an in-ducker through the defences of Sushma Verma to complete a five-fer and reduce Gujarat to 33 for 6 as they were punished for the ludicrous decision to dispense with Sophia Dunkley for this clash, just days after she smashed an 18-ball fifty.

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^{Marizanne Kapp took five wickets for Delhi (Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)}

The game was long since over as a contest by Verma's dismissal, though Wareham (22) and Kim Garth (32*) did at least ensure they weren't completely embarrassed, but a final total of 105 for 9 was never likely to be even close to sufficient.

With perhaps the most destructive opening pair in the competition, Delhi made light work of their target, with Meg Lanning (21*) content simply to put Verma back on strike and watch her unleash carnage, clinical to all corners of the ground.

There were 10 fours and five sixes in a remarkable 28-ball knock as Capitals completed a brutal, demoralising win with 12.5 overs to spare.