Women's Premier League: Delhi make capital of Gujarat's largesse

Lanning, Radha star, hand Giants 4th straight defeatBENGALURU: A score of 163/8 didn't quite do justice to table toppers Delhi Capitals' form or reputation, but up against a team, whose best effort in the competition thus far was 142, they were always ahead in the race. The Women's Premier League contest at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Sunday presented Gujarat Giants a good opportunity to snap their losing streak. Instead, they finished their Bengaluru leg of the competition without a win in four outings.Powered by skipper Meg Lanning's 41-ball 55 (6x4; 1x6) and the left-arm spin duo of Jess Jonassen (3/22) and Radha Yadav (3/20),Delhi restricted Gujarat to 138/8 for a 25-run victory.On a day when Gujarat were found wanting in all departments, the lone bright spark for them was Meghna Singh (4/37).Tanuja Kanwar dropped a return catch offered by Shafali Verma in the opening over and that was the beginning of many of Gujarat's blunders. But Shafali failed to make use of the lifeline and miscued a flick off Meghna to Laura Wolvaardt at square leg.Alice Capsey (27) then took on the bowlers before Lanning went for the shots. She too was a beneficiary of Gujarat's largesse, grassed by Phoebe Litchfield at mid-off. Jonassen too was dropped by Hemalatha. That said, Gujarat bowlers did well in the death overs, conceding just 24 runs in the last four overs. Gujarat batting never took off. Bar ring Ashleigh Garner's 31-ball 40 (5x4;1x6), there was nothing noteworthy with the batters failing to read the spinners.Gujarat had a flicker of hope of crossing line until the 15th over, but Gardner went down the track for a big one off Jonassen, missed the line and wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia was quick with her stumping to end Gujarat's hopes. It also didn't help Gujarat's cause that the experienced Harleen Deol and Sneh Rana sat out of the match due to injury. Delhi made two changes to their team with an injured Marizanne Kapp making way for Annabel Sutherland and Titas Sadhu making her debut, replacing Minnu Mani.Brief scores: Delhi Capitals: 163/8 in 20 overs (Meg Lanning 55, Alice Capsey 27; Meghna Singh 4-37, Ashleigh Gardner 2-37) bt Gujarat Giants:138/8 in 20 overs (Ashleigh Gardner 40; Jess Jonassen 3-22, Radha Yadav 3-20)