| UP Warriorz 138-6 (20 overs): McGrath 58* (32); Capsey 3-26 |
| Delhi Capitals 142-5 (17.5 overs): Lanning 39 (23), Kapp 34* (31), Capsey 34 (31); Ismail 2-29 |
| Delhi Capitals won by five wickets |
| Scorecard.Table |
Delhi Capitals reached the Women’s Premier League final with a five-wicket win over UP Warriorz.
England’s Alice Capsey took 3-26 and then scored 34 as Delhi reached their target of 139 with 13 balls to spare.
Warriorz, who had already qualified for the knockouts, must now play Mumbai Indians in the eliminator on Friday.
Mumbai and Delhi both finished on 12 points but Delhi’s superior net run-rate ensured they ended top of the table.
Mumbai had an opportunity to take top spot in the earlier fixture against Royal Challengers Bangalore, but took 16.3 overs to chase 126 which dented their net run-rate further.
Delhi will face the winner of the eliminator in the final on Sunday 26 March at 15:00 GMT.
Capsey shines as Delhi finish on top
Warriorz secured their place in the eliminator after a stunning chase of 178 against Gujarat Giants on Monday, but a day later their batting failed to put any pressure on Delhi’s pursuit of a final place.
They made the surprising move of dropping Australian Grace Harris, who scored a stunning 72 from 41 balls in Monday’s chase, in order to play seamer Shabnim Ismail.
Ismail bowled beautifully with 2-29 but only had 138 runs to defend, which was largely down to Tahlia McGrath’s unbeaten 32-ball 58.
Warriorz took 33 of those runs from the final two overs in a slow-paced innings, the batters pegged back by spin as Capsey took 3-26, Radha Yadav 2-28 and Jess Jonassen 1-24.
Delhi needed to win with at least two balls to spare to finish top of the table and their explosive opening partnership of Shafali Verma and leading run-scorer Meg Lanning started the chase by launching a stand of 56 in 4.5 overs.
But Warriorz fought back as three wickets fell in two overs, with Lanning falling for 39 and Verma 21.
But 18-year-old Capsey added to her exploits with the ball with a mature innings in a match-winning partnership of 60 with South African all-rounder Marizanne Kapp, who made 34.
Capsey disappointingly fell to Sophie Ecclestone in the 17th over with nine runs still needed, and Jonassen was run out for a duck in the 18th, but the experienced Kapp remained calm to guide Delhi home.
Mumbai settle for eliminator
Mumbai, coached by former England captain Charlotte Edwards, looked to be cruising directly into the final with five wins from their opening five matches.
A slight dip in form after already securing qualification, with defeats by Delhi and Warriorz, means they must now settle for a place in the eliminator.
In contrast, RCB have had a woeful first season in the WPL with one solitary win and were merely playing for pride – something that took a blow when Sophie Devine was disastrously run out in the first over by Amelia Kerr.
It was the start of a fine all-round performance from Kerr as the New Zealand leg-spinner also took 3-22 and scored a calm unbeaten 31 as Mumbai lost wickets late in their chase.
Ellyse Perry and Richa Ghosh both top-scored with 29 in RCB’s 125-9 but in contrasting fashion, with Perry’s effort taking 38 balls and Ghosh just 13.
Hayley Matthews and Yastika Bhatia raced to an opening stand of 53 in just under six overs but Mumbai’s middle order made hard work of the rest of the chase as they slipped to 73-4.
Two further wickets fell in the 16th over but Kerr stood firm as they reached their target with 3.3 overs to spare.
