Navi Mumbai, March 21 (IANS) Tahlia McGrath struck a 32-ball 58 as UP Warriorz struggled to 138/6 against Delhi Capitals in the last preliminary league match of the Women’s Premier League at the Dr. D.Y Patil Cricket Academy here on Tuesday.
McGrath struck eight boundaries and two sixes during her 32-ball knock that helped UP set up a decent total as their middle-order batters failed to fire.
Both UP Warriors and Delhi Capitals along with Mumbai Indians have made it to the playoffs and Tuesday’s last two matches in the first round will decide the final positions in the table. As the team finishing at the top of the points table is assured a place in the final, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals are in contention.
Mumbai Indians took the provisional lead by defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore earlier in the day. Delhi Capitals have to now win the match to take over the top spot from MI on net run rate as both will finish on 12 points.
Delhi set themselves up for that chase as they restricted UP Warriorz to a modest total, thanks mainly to Alice Capsey, who claimed three wickets for 26 runs in four overs. Spinner Radha Yadav claimed 2-28 as UP Warriors faltered after a good start as their batters, barring McGrath failed to get going.
Openers Alyssa Healy and Shweta Sehrawat raised 30 runs before the latter was out, caught by Jess Jonassen off Radha Yadav as she attempted a big heave by got beaten by the turn and ended up producing an easy skier.
Healy, who started by hitting Marizanne Kapp for a four off the first delivery, also despatched a knee-high full toss from Radhua Yadav to the boundary and also struck the spinner for a brilliant six in the eighth over, muscling away a full delivery that landed wide.
She hammered Shikha Pandey for a four and was out in an eventful 10th over in which she was dropped by bowler Capsey off a low full toss on the third ball, punched the fifth delivery for a four between cover and wide long-on and is out off the final delivery, giving Capsey the charge only to see the ball swing past the bat to keeper Taniya Bhatia who whips off the bails to find her out by a long distance.
Simran Shaikh got out for 11 runs and Kiran Navgire is stumped by Bhatia off Jonassen it eventually was McGrath that took the Warriorz to a decent total.
She struck eight boundaries and two sixes as UP Warriorz lost wickets at regular intervals against disciplined bowling. McGrath struck Radha Yadav for boundaries off successive deliveries and hammered Jonassen for a four and six off successive deliveries in the 19th over.
She handed Capsey the same treatment in the final over, hitting a four and six off the third and fourth deliveries and ending the innings with a four off the final delivery. In between, she ran two doubles as UP Warriorz claimed 19 runs from the last over bowled by Capsey.
Brief scores:
UP Warriorz 138/6 in 20 overs (Tahila McGrath 58 not out, Alyssa Healy 36; Alice Capsey 3-26, Radha Yadav 2-28) v Delhi Capitals.
–IANS
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