Mumbai, 15 January (H.S.): JSW and GMR co-owned Delhi Capitals (DC) registered their first victory of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026 campaign on Wednesday, defeating UP Warriorz by seven wickets at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy to open their points account for the season.
Chasing a target of 155, Delhi cruised home with seven wickets and seven balls to spare, riding on solid top-order contributions and a composed finish from the middle order.Delhi’s reply was set up by an authoritative opening stand. Opener Shafali Verma struck 36 runs off 32 balls, laced with six fours, giving the chase early momentum.
Fellow opener Lizelle Lee then anchored the innings brilliantly, compiling a fluent 67 off 44 deliveries, including eight fours and three sixes, to keep Delhi in control even as wickets fell around her later in the innings.The chase grew tense when a few wickets fell in the middle overs and the contest briefly opened up again.
However, Laura Wolvaardt (25* off 24 balls) and captain Jemimah Rodrigues (21 off 14 balls) held their nerve, stitched together a calm partnership and took the team past the finish line. Earlier, Delhi’s bowlers had produced a disciplined performance to restrict UP Warriorz to 154 for 8.
Marizanne Kapp picked up 2 for 24, while Shafali Verma contributed with the ball as well, taking 2 for 16 and effectively throttling the scoring rate in the middle overs.
Speaking after the match about the tense final overs, Wolvaardt said, “It is a huge relief. There was definitely some tension because the situation was very similar to the last match. At one stage, once again, it was Jamie and me batting together, so a few memories came flooding back, but this time we managed to finish the game.”
Commenting on the pitch, she explained, “This wicket was quite slow and the ball was holding up, and there was a lot more turn. On the previous pitch, there was no turn and the ball was coming on nicely, so this was a completely different challenge. Perhaps we should have taken a bit more responsibility earlier, but in the end we managed to get to the target.”
Wolvaardt was full of praise for Lizelle Lee’s knock, saying, “She has been outstanding. I am really happy for her. She has been performing consistently in franchise cricket in Australia. For South Africa too, our opening partnership has been very good, so to bat with her again has been a fantastic experience.”
The South African batter also lauded captain Jemimah Rodrigues’ leadership. “Jamie has been brilliant. She knows how to connect with people and how to bring the best out of the team. As a new captain, she has a lot of responsibility, but she has handled it extremely well and has become a real source of inspiration for the group,” Wolvaardt said.
Buoyed by this victory, Delhi Capitals will look to build on the winning momentum when they face Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their next fixture on Saturday, January 17, aiming to consolidate their position in the WPL 2026 standings.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
