Big Picture – Can DC make it four in four?
Such faith in younger players on this scale was missing in Giants’ first two seasons, but it reflects a philosophical shift that head coach Michael Klinger has been vocal about.
DC have largely relied on their spinners – Sneh Rana and N Shree Charani in particular – to operate through the middle to squeeze right-hand heavy line-ups. Nandani Sharma’s impressive debut season, and her confidence to bowl in the death – even if the execution has been off at times – gives them an extra option you felt was missing when they couldn’t get back Shikha Pandey at the auction. This has also helped take pressure off their powerplay weapon, Marizanne Kapp.
Giants love to set up totals, Capitals have been successful in chases. It boils down to who will hold their nerve now in a crunch game, when challenged to go out of their comfort zone.
Team news & likely XIs
Giants have fielded the same XI for two games in a row, DC for three. Expect them both to remain unchanged, barring late injuries.
Gujarat Giants: 1 Beth Mooney (wk), 2 Sophie Devine, 3 Anushka Sharma, 4 Ash Gardner (capt), 5 Georgia Wareham, 6 Bharti Fulmali, 7 Kanika Ahuja, 8 Kashvee Gautam, 9 Tanuja Kanwer, 10 Rajeshwari Gayakwad, 11 Renuka Singh
Delhi Capitals: 1 Lizelle Lee (wk), 2 Shafali Verma, 3 Laura Wolvaardt, 4 Jemimah Rodrigues, 5 Marizanne Kapp, 6 Chinelle Henry, 7 Niki Prasad, 8 Sneh Rana, 9 Minnu Mani, 10 Nandani Sharma, 11 Shree Charani
In the spotlight – Georgia Wareham and Shree Charani
Pitch and conditions
Surfaces have played noticeably better lately than they did earlier in the Vadodara leg. The BCCI’s head curator was brought in to oversee pitch preparation, with a clear directive to produce tracks that encourage run-scoring. On the weather front, daytime temperatures have touched 30 degrees celsius, and the distinct late-evening nip in the air has all but disappeared. As a result, dew has been far less of a factor, reducing the toss advantage.
Stats and trivia
- Giants have a 5-1 win-loss record batting first this season. This is by far the best in a WPL edition
- Devine is two short of surpassing Amelia Kerr and Hayley Matthews’ tally of 18 wickets (both in 2025) – the most wickets taken in a single WPL season
- Devine has a favourable match-up against Lizelle Lee, having dismissed her 11 times in 23 innings, with Lee having scored 162 runs off 121 balls (where ball-by-ball data is available)
- Each of Giants’ five wins this season have come batting first; all of DC’s four wins have come in run chases
- DC’s Nandani and Shree Charani’s 14 wickets apiece in this WPL are the joint-second most wickets picked up by an Indian in a season, behind Saika Ishaque’s tally of 15 wickets in the inaugural season.
Quotes
“We’ve built a culture. Of camaraderie and trust, and that comes only with continuity. The fact that we’ve been able to build from a core group last year, the spin-offs are in front of us this year. Hopefully we’ve got two perfect games left” – Gujarat Giants head coach Michael Klinger
“We’ve certainly done it a little bit the hard way. It’s been a rollercoaster and we haven’t always played our best cricket. But after three years where we’ve absolutely dominated the league phase and finished top and that was obviously no guarantee of winning the trophy. Look, I’m just happy to qualify for the playoffs now.” – Delhi Capitals head coach Jonathan Batty
Shashank Kishore is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo
