New Delhi: North Delhi Strikers women lifted the inaugural title of the Women’s Delhi Premier League (WDPL) after a nail-biting victory over South Delhi Superstarz women on Sunday (September 8) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
North Delhi opener Upasana Yadav set the tone with a splendorous century to continue her terrific form in the four-team tournament. Despite losing the early wicket of her opening partner Mansi Sharma, the 23-year-old Upasana was unfazed and kept the boundaries flowing from her bat.
Upasana remained unbeaten on 114 off 67 balls, belting 18 boundaries and three sixes at a strike rate of 170.14 to power North Delhi to a competitive score of 179 for 3. She forged 116 runs with Ayushi Soni (31 runs off 34 balls) for the third wicket.
South Delhi skipper Shweta Sehrawat failed to turn up for the big game despite the competitive experience she was carrying. She departed for a measly 13 runs from 11 balls while her opening partner Chhavi Gupta departed early with a run-a-ball contribution of 20.
After the openers departed, the mantle of the chase was carried by South Delhi Superstarz vice-captain Tanisha Singh. With a tumultuous approach and flair of shots at her disposal, Tanisha showered hopes to cross the finishing line. However, lack of partnerships and intent from other batters didn’t help to the cause.
Tanisha’s brilliant 72 runs off 40 balls went in vain as South Delhi fell 10 runs short of the target. It was the 18th over of the chase bowled by North Delhi captain Soni Yadav that turned the game. Tanisha was dismissed on the second ball while attempting to play a square cut. Wicketkeeper R Priyadarshini followed her to the dugout on the final ball.
Despite some late hitting by Ekta Bhadana, the South Delhi outfit ended up on the losing side.
We had batters in our side but couldn’t adapt to the conditions in the end and we fell short by 10 runs,” Tanisha said after the match.
“We leaked too many runs with the ball. We bowled at the shorter length along with a few full toss. The disadvantage we had was the same with them (sloppiness in the field) but we didn’t bowl in the right areas,” she added.
Upasana Yadav scored the cream of runs for North Delhi throughout the tournament. She accumulated 270 runs in four innings at a strike rate of 145.16 with the help of two fifties and a match-winning century in the final.
A day before the final she said there is a secret plan for her opponents. When asked about the secret, she chuckled before saying:
“Yes you could assume it (the century was the secrete plan). But the plan with the conditions out there was to score maximum runs on the board. With a little bit of drizzle, the conditions remained undeterred. We wanted to at least put up 150 to challenge them.”
North Delhi Strikers women lifted the inaugural title of the Women’s Delhi Premier League (WDPL) after a nail-biting victory over South Delhi Superstarz women on Sunday (September 8) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
