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Gujarat take Giant step towards playoffs in thriller

football27 January 2026 18:30
By:Patrick Compton
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Kiwi Sophie Devine secured a thrilling last-ball victory for the Gujarat Giants when she had Niki Prasad of the Delhi Capitals caught by Ashleigh Gardner at long-on to win their Tata WPL match by three runs at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara on Tuesday.

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The victory pushes the Giants up into second place on the log with eight points, two behind leaders Royal Challengers Bengaluru and within sight of a playoff place.

Prasad had almost completed an unlikely heist for the Capitals.

It seemed that the Giants were destined to lose the match by a distance, needing an unlikely 60 runs off the last four overs after a succession of poor strokes by their top batters, including Laura Wolvaardt (24) and Demimah Rodrigues (16).

But Prasad then fired into action, belting four boundaries off the first four balls of Devine’s penultimate over.

And when her partner, Sneh Rana, cracked a six off the final delivery, the Capitals suddenly had a puncher’s chance of victory.

Rana and Prasad then kept up the momentum when they took 20 off Gardner in the 19th over, leaving the Capitals a more than manageable nine to win off the final six balls with four wickets in hand.

The drama deepened when the match referee took five minutes to adjudicate a run-out off the first ball of Devine’s over.

From one angle it looked as if the bat had not been grounded. From another it looked like it had been. Eventually, the referee decided in favour of the batter, Rana.

But Devine, who had snatched victory away from the Capitals in their first match, defending seven off the final over, was up to the task yet again.

Rana (29 in 15 balls) was caught on the boundary by Wareham as their breathless partnership of 70 in 31 balls was finally terminated.

The next batter, Minnu Mani, then took a single to set up a dramatic final delivery. But Prasad, going for glory, was caught by Gardner at long-on – the Aussie’s fourth catch of the innings – as she perished for 47 in 24 balls, including nine fours as Delhi finished just short on 171 for eight.

Devine, ice cool under intense pressure, emerged with figures of 4-37 while left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad claimed 3-20 in her four overs as batter after batter was dismissed attempting unduly aggressive strokes on a slow, low wicket.

CLINICAL MOONEY

Earlier, Beth Mooney, the most clinical batter on show in the match, struck a vital half-century, her first in this season’s competition, to lead the Giants to a solid 174-9 after her team lost the toss and were put in to bat.

Devine, who opened with Mooney, started aggressively, smacking three boundaries before being squared up and bowled for 13 by South Africa’s Marizanne Kapp in the third over.

There followed the best partnership of the innings between Mooney and the talented Anushka Sharma.

The 22-year-old from Gwalior has wonderful wrists and she struck a flowing 39 off 25 balls, including eight boundaries, before she rather gave her wicket away.

Having been dropped at mid-off the previous ball, the right-handed batter attempted a sweep but the ball was pouched just inside the midwicket boundary by Mani.

That was left-arm spinner Shree Charani’s first wicket and she went on to claim the further scalps of Georgia Wareham, Kanika Ahuja and Kashvee Gautam to finish with 4-31, her best figures in the WPL.

It was Mooney who knitted the innings together as the middle-order melted away. The left-handed Aussie international’s shot selection was excellent as she recognised that blazing away on this difficult pitch was suicide.

Instead she played each ball on merit, keeping the ball on the deck and often cleverly picking the gaps in the covers off the back foot. She struck seven fours in her 46-ball 58.

Ironically she was dismissed on the one occasion she caught the same disease as her fellow batters, holing out to mid-off off the bowling of pacer Nandani Sharma.

Having lost five wickets for 23, it was left to Tanuja Kanwar to belt 15 off the last over from Chinelle Henry to take the Giants to a respectable total.

As it turned out, it was just enough, by the slenderest of margins.

DELHI CAPITALS: Shafali Verma, Lizelle Lee (wk), Jemimah Rodrigues (capt), Laura Wolvaardt, Marizanne Kapp, Niki Prasad, Chinelle Henry, Minnu Mani, Sneh Rana, Shree Charani, Nandani Sharma

GUJARAT GIANTS: Beth Mooney (wk), Sophie Devine, Anushka Sharma, Ashleigh Gardner (capt), Georgia Wareham, Kanika Ahuja, Bharti Fulmali, Kashvee Gautam, Tanuja Kanwar, Renuka Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad

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