'Back to winning ways' - Fans react as Gujarat beat Delhi by 11 runs to keep playoff hopes alive in Women's T20 League

Gujarat vs Delhi Women's T20 League (Image source: Twitter)

Delhi tasted their second defeat in the ongoing Women's T20 League when Gujarat beat them by 11 runs in a thriller at the Brabourne Stadium on Thursday, March 16. Chasing a competitive score of 148, except for all-rounder Marizanne Kapp, none of the other batters could play a responsible innings as the Gujarat bowlers tore through their batting line-up. Arundhati Reddy played a fighting knock in the end, but all her efforts went in vain as Gujarat returned to winning ways after losing their last two matches.

Losing the toss, Gujarat were asked to bat first and they managed to put a competitive score of 147 runs on the board. Sophia Dunkley departed early as South African all-rounder Kapp nipped her out in the first over. After that, Laura Wolvaardt and Harleen Deol stepped up with some sensible batting but the latter was dismissed for 31 by Jess Jonassen. Gujarat were 54-2 after 10 overs, but from there they shifted to top gear after Ashleigh Gardner joined Wolvaardt. The duo put on an 80+ run partnership with the Proteas batter scoring 51 off 45 balls and Gardner not out on 51 off 33 balls.

Arundhati's lone fight went in vain

Although Gujarat managed to win their second match of the tournament, the Ahmedabad-based franchise were really made to sweat in the end. Delhi were reeling at 100/8 in the 15th over, but Arundhati's lone fight (25 off 17 balls) made it difficult for the opposition. Delhi lost Shafali Verma (8 off 7) early on and their in-form skipper Meg Lanning (18 off 15) failed to score big this time. Alice Capsey looked promising but after a misjudgment with Jemima Rodriguez, she got run out. Kapp gave them hope but Ashwani Kumari's direct hit sent her back to the pavilion for 36 runs. Kim Garth, Tanuja Kanwar, and Ashleigh Gardner took two wickets each.

With the win, Sneh Rana-led Gujarat secured four points and kept their playoff hopes alive. Smriti Mandana-led Bangalore, meanwhile, slipped back to last place and their qualification for the eliminators became almost impossible after Gujarat's win today.

Speaking after winning the Player Of The Match award for her outstanding all-round performance, Gardner said: This was the game I was searching for. Felt I have been inconsistent, but today the performance was right with bat and ball. Found the right balance. We spoke about losing too many wickets in clumps, so the idea was to give ourselves time because in India we can catch up with the grounds being fast.

Here's how fans reacted to Gujarat's win:

😳 i saw felt it is one-sided and changed channel. seems a great comeback

— Veemala (@veemala33) March 16, 2023

Gujarat are back to winning ways

— jerin k tomy (@jerinktomy) March 16, 2023

Delhi bowlers should use some sense
Required 12 of 12 then going to hit the boundary
No comon sense

— ❤️ (@kicchu02) March 16, 2023

HaarCB are out of the tournament now.
Let's all laugh at them first 😂😂😂

— NIKHIL 🇮🇳 (@nikhil_nsu) March 16, 2023

Gujarat won & RCB fans are back with their favourite gadget.

To check their qualification chances :) pic.twitter.com/OdqNTNxelC

— Shakti Man 💥 (@IamShaktiMann) March 16, 2023

That's a good match ....
Gujrat chances to qualify still remains...

— Ankit Khandelwal (@Ankit__002) March 16, 2023

The captain, Rana.. used bowlers well. Well deserved victory #DCvGG #WPLT20 pic.twitter.com/J8zOrPcqN8

— Vikram Rajput (@iVikramRajput) March 16, 2023

Very poor from arundhati, after doing all the hard work, threw her wicket when needed run a ball. The same thing they do in INT cricket.

— Sid361 (@shubhsaraf361) March 16, 2023