By Pragati Saha
Nandini Sharna’s first hattrick was not enough as Sophie Divine outshined her with an impressive 95 and delivered a fantastic final over under pressure, leading Gujarat Giants to a nail-biting four-run victory over Delhi Capitals (DC) in a Women’s Premier League (WPL) on Sunday.
After being sent to bat first, Giants opener Devine hit seven fours and Eight Sixes in her 42-ball innings, building a partnership with Beth Mooney (19) to build a 94-run stand for the first wicket, establishing a strong start for the match.
Captain Ashleigh Gardener maintained the momentum with a quick 49 (26) balls, but Nandini Sharma changed them with an outstanding figures of 5-33, including a hat-trick, as Gujarat went all out for 209.
Chasing a target of 210, DC opener Lizelle Lee scored an impressive 86 (54) balls, featuring 12 fours and 3 sixes. She partnered with Shafali Verma (14), for 41 runs before adding 90 (55) while Laura Wolvaardt 77 (38) to keep Delhi alive in the match.
After Lee got dismissed by Kashvi Gautam in her 15th over, and in the very next over, Rajeshwari Gayakwad got Chinelle Henry dismissed, and Delhi reached 146/3 while chasing. Skipper Jemimaah Rodrigues joined Laura Wolvaardt by building a partnership off 58 (23) balls, bringing the target down to 7 off 5 balls.
Devine made a comeback, getting rid of both batters and allowing only two runs in the last over to secure a thrilling victory. Earlier, Devine started strongly, hitting fours off Henry and then attacking Nandini with two fours and a six in the fourth over. She smashed two fours and four consecutive sixes in an over, which brought 32 runs to Sneh Rana, helping Gujarat Giants reach 80 runs without losing a wicket in the powerplay.
Captain Asleigh Gardener led GG with a quick 49 (26), hitting 4 fours and 3 sixes to push the team against the 200-run mark. At the same time, DC’s Nandini finished with a remarkable performance by taking four wickets in the last over, including three wickets off three balls, achieving her first hat-trick.