In a career spanning over a dozen years, experienced Australian woman cricketer Meg Lanning has experienced many tough and close matches. But even for someone like her, the last-ball thriller her team Delhi Capitals won against Mumbai Indians in Women's Premier League (WPL) 2025 in Vadodara is too much stress and quite avoidable.
In a match that swung like a pendulum, the Capitals chased a modest target of 165 in the final ball of the match with youngsters Nikki Prasad and Arundhati Reddy keeping their nerves.
Lanning credited the team’s ability to change plans and step up in key moments for their victory in their first match of the season.
Not too many stressful days like that: They looked like getting to 200. Pandey in particular bowled well. There were patches where we were going well with the bat, but Mumbai came back well.
Lanning credited her bowlers for halting the Mumbai Indians' attempts to reach a big total.
Asked to bat first, Mumbai Indians seemed to be heading toward a massive total with Nat Sciver-Brunt leading the charge. The English all-rounder played a magnificent unbeaten knock of 80 off 59 balls, providing stability after early setbacks. She got some support from captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who contributed a quickfire 42 off 22 balls. At one stage, Mumbai looked set to breach the 200-run mark, but a collapse in the final overs saw them bowled out for 164 in 19.1 overs.
I had an idea of what I wanted it to look like. Minnu (Mani) did well. You have to keep changing. When batters are set, you can't let them face the same thing twice, so I kept changing (the bowlers).
When it came to batting, Delhi’s chase began in blistering fashion as Shafali Verma took on the MI bowlers from the outset, racing to 43 off just 18 balls. However, just as she seemed poised to take the game away, Verma fell to Hayley Matthews, caught by Amanjot Kaur.
Lanning, meanwhile, struggled to find her timing and was undone by Shabnim Ismail’s sharp pace, bowled for 15 off 19 balls. Jemimah Rodrigues (2) and Annabel Sutherland (6) also departed quickly, leaving Delhi in trouble at 83/4 in the 12th over.
With the game hanging in the balance, debutant Niki Prasad stepped up under pressure. The teenager, fresh from leading India to the U-19 World Cup title, showed remarkable composure, anchoring the innings while ensuring the required run rate didn’t escalate.
Niki did an excellent job of coming in at a tricky time. Radha Yadav also hit that six. T20 is about impact play, and I thought we did that well. .
Nikki, Alice Capsey, Radha Yadav, and Sarah Bryce played cameos that drove Delhi Capitals forward and they reached the final two overs needing 21 runs.
Radha Yadav struck a crucial six in the penultimate over, which swung the momentum in Delhi’s favor. But with 10 runs needed off the final six balls, the game was still wide open.
In the final over bowled by Sajeevan Sajana, Prasad sliced the first ball for four, followed by two more runs to bring the equation down to four off four balls. A single left two needed off the final two deliveries.
However, just when Delhi seemed set for victory, Prasad fell for a composed 35 off 33 balls, caught by Amelia Kerr at deep mid-wicket, leaving two required off the last ball with Arundhati Reddy on strike.
In the final moment of drama, Reddy charged down the track and lofted the ball over cover. As she sprinted for the second run, the throw came in at the non-striker’s end but Reddy made the ground with a desperate dive, sealing a thrilling last-ball win for Delhi Capitals.
While Delhi Capitals would be happy with winning their first match, they will hope the remaining matches are quite less stressful than their first encounter of the season.
