Delhi Capitals put in a dominant all-round performance to book their place in a fourth consecutive Women’s Premier League final, beating Gujarat Giants by seven wickets in the Eliminator on Tuesday.After Delhi opted to bowl, a disciplined attack kept Gujarat to a competitive but manageable 168 for 7. The Capitals struck early through Chinella Henry, who removed Sophie Devine and later came back to finish with 3 for 35. Nandini Sharma made an immediate impact in her first over, dismissing Anushka Sharma and skipper Ashleigh Gardner off consecutive deliveries to leave the Giants in trouble. Spinners Minnu Mani and Sneh Rana tightened the screws through the middle overs, limiting the flow of runs and forcing Gujarat to rebuild.Beth Mooney held the innings together with a composed unbeaten 62 off 51 balls, hitting six boundaries. She found support from Georgia Wareham, who played a lively knock of 35 as the pair added 61 for the fifth wicket. Mooney later combined with Kashvee Gautam for a late breakthrough which helped Gujarat add valuable runs in the final overs after they struggled for momentum earlier.In response, Delhi made the chase easy with a brilliant opening partnership. Shafali Verma and Lizelle Lee attacked and smashed 89 runs without loss in just a few overs. Verma hit 31 off 21 balls while Lee made 43 off 24, littering the boundary and putting Gujarat on the back foot. Although Wareham briefly revived Gujarat’s hopes by dismissing both openers in the same over, the damage had already been done.Laura Wolvaardt and captain Jemimah Rodrigues calmly led the chase through the middle stages and ensured there were no further hiccups. Rodrigues scored a fluent 41 while Wolvaardt remained unbeaten on 32. Marizanne Kapp eventually hit the winning runs as Delhi reached the target in just 15.4 overs.The comprehensive win underlined Delhi Capitals’ consistency in the league and set up a final clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Thursday.
