The Gujarat Giants will end a miserable WPL 2024 season tonight in Delhi with hopes of signing off on a winning note. The positive result will do nothing to change their fate but will improve how they fared in the inaugural WPL season (they won two and lost six matches last year). They can, though, have a say in who out of Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians makes a direct entry into the final, avoiding the Eliminator.
So how can they avoid the wooden spoon, though? Yes, but it’s a big ask.
It will depend on a massive capitulation of their latest opponents, the Delhi Capitals, a team at the top of the points table and overwhelming favourites to keep the spot and make a direct entry into the final for the second time running. DC’s chances have brightened thanks to defending champions, the Mumbai Indians, succumbing to a huge defeat in their last league game that hurt their net run rate. Both DC and MI are level on points, but even if the former endures a defeat, provided it is not by a heavy margin, it will be enough for Meg Lanning’s side to advance to the final.
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Impossible? No. Difficult? Yes.
Given the past week’s surprising results, it’s not completely out of the picture, but even then, it looks highly unlikely.
What: DC vs GG, WPL 2024 Match no. 20
When: Match 13 (Wednesday)
Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
Time: 7 PM IST
DC Team News
DC have won five of their seven matches so far. Their two defeats have been close affairs. Their first loss was against MI, thanks to a last-ball six by Sajeevan Sajana in the season opener. Their next defeat was thanks to a freak show from Deepti Sharma, who scored a half-century and then took a split hat-trick in a one-run win for UP Warriorz. DC finally had the rub of the green in a close encounter against Royal Challengers Bangalore as they secured a one-run win. Barring these three results, the hosts have enjoyed dominating victory margins.
Should they make any changes? Well, with a direct qualification nearly secured, they might make a change or two to keep a couple of key players fresh for the remainder of the season. Perhaps Annabel Sutherland could get another game in place of Marizanne Kapp?
DC Likely XI: Meg Lanning (c), Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp/Annabel Sutherland, Jess Jonassen, Arundhati Reddy, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav, Titas Sadhu
GG Team News
GG seem to have found their batting mojo late into the season. Against RCB, they posted 199 and followed that with 190 against MI. Their captain, Beth Mooney, has been intrinsic to the late revival, but the performances were not enough to save another forgettable season. They lost to MI despite posting a big total and being in control for most of the contest. The blame was theirs, having dropped a catch of Harmanpreet Kaur when she was on 40 and then made them pay with a blistering 95*. GG kept improving, though, and reduced UPW to 35/5, defending 152, and won despite another special innings from Deepti.
GG will be encouraged by their last three performances and may not want to tinker with their winning combination.
GG Likely XI: Laura Wolvaardt, Beth Mooney (captain and wicketkeeper), Phoebe Litchfield, Ashleigh Gardner, Dayalan Hemalatha, Bharati Fulmali, Kathryn Bryce, Sneh Rana, Tanuja Kanwar, Meghna Singh, Shabnam Md Shakil
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