Beyond the headlines: Navgire controlled, Henry let loose, Goud breaks out, & more!
Beyond the headlines; DC v/s UPW, Game 8 of the WPL
The UP Warriorz beat the Delhi Capitals by 33 runs tonight, in a game dominated by smart bowling in the powerplay overs. The new pitch conditions in Bengaluru also helped a couple of bowlers, while UPW got away with some horrid fielding.
But, what happened beyond the headlines?
DC learnt their lesson on Kiran Navgire
Written by Tarutr Malhotra.
Three nights ago, Kiran Navgire took the DC bowlers to the cleaners. She scored 51 (27), and the fastest half century in UP Warriorz history. However, as we analysed on the night, it wasn’t an impressive Navgire innings; it was a DC bowling disaster.
Tonight, the DC bowlers learnt their lesson. They focussed on bowling two specific balls that trouble Navgire; deliveries that pitch just outside off and seam back, & shorter balls that tempt her into uncontrolled pulls. The tactic worked as they limited her to just 17 (20).
The underlying numbers also support DC’s strategy. Navgire’s control percentage (or how often she successfully middled or left the ball) was 43% tonight, down from 74% on Wednesday. Her dot ball percentage tonight was 70%, up drastically from Wednesday’s 37%.
In particular, Shikha Pandey baited Navgire well. In the 2nd over, Pandey alternated between in-swingers and shorter balls to discomfort the power hitter. After 4 dots in the first 5 balls, Pandey bowled a juicier shortish ball on the offside - paced 6kph lower than her previously deliveries - that Navgire wildly swung it. She was lucky that the ball dropped just out of the backward point’s hands.
In the 4th over, Pandey stuck to the same strategy, alternating between offside in-swingers and even shorter deliveries. On the 4th ball she induced a wild pull, that luckily missed the fine leg fielder and ran for 4. When Pandey threw in the low-pace in-swinger on the 6th ball again, Navgire wisened up and didn’t take the bait.
Annabel Sutherland was brought on for the 6th over, and immediately doubled down on the strategy. She nearly induced a nick to the keeper on a very short 4th ball, & an uncontrolled shot on an in-swinging 5th ball that fell between the fielders on the square leg boundary.
Arundathi Reddy came on for the 7th over, and played DC’s last card for Navgire; she pulled the pace off the ball. Sutherland had been fizzing in balls at 110+ kph, and Pandey had largely stuck to the 103 to 108 kph range.
Reddy bowled a shorter ball, pitched on the offside, swinging in to the stumps, at 96.5 kph - and induced Navgire’s final uncontrolled shot to the fielder at square leg.
And DC’s bowling redemption from Wednesday night was complete.
Data from Cricmetric and ESPNcricinfo.
DC didn’t learn their lesson on Chinelle Henry
Written by Krithika Venkatesan, who works as a talent scout with RCB. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
After battering DC for 33*(15) earlier this week, Chinelle Henry came back for seconds tonight. And DC willingly obliged by bringing out the desert cart. Henry hit DC for a match-changing 62 (23), including the equal fastest WPL half century of all time.
Henry’s approach has always been straightforward; she thrives against pace. She stays deep in the crease, creating room to swing freely regardless of where the ball pitches, and her high backlift allows her to generate maximum power.
Before 2022, she was aggressive on almost every delivery, often targeting the midwicket region. However, since then, she has refined her game, focusing more on shot selection and picking her areas wisely. In today's match, despite not really targetting the shorter boundary (54m), she still scored 20 runs in that area.
Notably, Henry tends to struggle against slower spinners, but Delhi Capitals threw pace at her. Even on Wednesday, DC primarily chose pacers against her. Minnu Mani - who didn’t bowl today - was the only spinner to be used against her in the last game, and only conceded 4 runs in 4 deliveries. Tonight, DC repeated their mistakes.
Henry targetted Arundhati Reddy in particular, smashing her for five 6s out of her eight total. Arundhati went short twice, and got hit. Then she bowled two full tosses, and Henry launched her over deep midwicket.
Then, Shikha Pandey tried bowling fuller to Henry. So, Henry changed her stance a bit. She opted to go straight over the bowler’s head, and successfully cleared the boundary.
Jess Jonassen, the only DC spinner who got overs, bowled 5 legal balls to Henry tonight. On her 1st delivery to the West Indian (in the 16th over), Henry was dropped off Jonassen’s bowling. However, Jonassen got her woman on her 5th delivery (in the 20th over), with Jemimah Rodrigues taking a splendid catch.
But the damage had been done.
Kapp thrives with a change in venue
Written by Krithika Venkatesan, who works as a talent scout with RCB. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Marizanne Kapp had struggled in her two matches in Vadodara, conceding 0/27 in 2 overs and 1/30 in 4 overs. Today, in Bengaluru, she delivered an impressive spell and finished with 2/18. Additionally, she bowled 18 dot deliveries tonight, and bowled just 8 dots across both games in Vadodara.
Marizanne Kapp typically bowls at a good length or just short of it, varying her line and moving the ball away from the batters. However, when the conditions in Vadodara offered little assistance, she had to adjust by pulling her length back and mixing up her deliveries.
Notably, in her two powerplay overs in Vadodara, 6 of her deliveries were short. In the final two overs of her spell last time out, she opted for variations, delivering eight slower off-cutters.
In the first 2 matches in Vadodara, there was some swing, but not as much as today at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Kapp took full advantage of the conditions, consistently hitting the right areas to keep UP Warriorz quiet during her spell.
Tonight, Kapp only bowled short 4 times, with 2 of those put away for boundaries. Otherwise, she bowled a good length 15 times and gave away just 1 run (apart from a leg bye 4). She also dismissed Vrinda Dinesh and Grace Harris, while bothering the potentially threatening Deepti Sharma.
Expect DC to have a more formidable bowling unit for their next 3 matches in Bengaluru with Marizanne Kapp in her favoured conditions.
Shafali gets stuck in first gear
Written by Tarutr Malhotra.
Shafali Verma has had a rough 2025 in the WPL, but tonight was a low point. She’s been averaging 23.25 at a strike rate of 143.07 (down from her regular WPL numbers of 32.7 & 164.32), and struggled through a 30-ball 24-run innings today.
Tonight, UPW came prepared to face her. Much like the conditions nullified the swing of Kapp in Vadodara, the switch to Chinnaswamy came with more bounce. And Chinelle Henry took full advantage after being given the new ball.
The medium pacer is known for her ability to bounce the ball, and she opened the first over with 3 dots off short balls to Verma. On the 4th delivery, she gave Verma some room on the offside to hit it, and was desperately unlucky to see Saima Thakor drop the chance at backward point.
In another smart move, Sophie Ecclestone was brought on to bowl the 2nd over. Going into the match, Verma has gotten out to Ecclestone 3 times in 6 T20I innings, and has only scored at a strike rate of 91 against her. The English spinner, known for her control, tried to cramp Verma and got immediate results.
On the 2nd ball, the DC opener awkwardly shuffled across her stumps to smack Ecclestone over square leg. Instead, she missed the ball, and was lucky that the delivery was too high to be given LBW. Two balls later, Verma came down the track, missed the ball, and got another lifeline because the wicketkeeper fumbled the stumping.
Verma just couldn’t get out of that uneasy start, despite being given another couple of lifelines via dropped catches and missed stumpings. Her entire evening revolved around a lack of space, and being saved by the bell as her poor shots kept getting dropped. She conceded 18 dot balls at a dot ball percentage of 60% tonight, versus an average dot ball ball percentage of 38.4% during the 2023 and 2024 WPL seasons.
DC are going to need their big hitter back in form, especially if their middle order keeps collapsing at the slightest hint of trouble.
Data from ESPNcricinfo and Cricmetric.
Kranti Goud’s breakout spell
Written by Uma Mahesh. You can follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Young right-arm medium pacer Kranti Goud delivered a match-winning performance tonight, with figures of 4-0-25-4 and the important wickets of Shafali Verma, Meg Lanning, Jess Jonassen, and Jemimah Rodrigues.
This is a departure from the struggles she’s had all season.
In her first 2 matches, Goud struggled to find her rhythm. Against the Gujarat Giants, she bowled two wicketless overs, conceding 15 runs at an economy of 7.50 with just 6 dot balls. Her second game against the Delhi Capitals was even tougher - she went for 22 runs in two overs at an economy of 11.00, managing only 5 dot balls. Across those two games, she had 0 wickets and conceded 6 boundaries.
So what changed?
In her first 2 matches, she was slightly erratic with her lengths, conceding boundaries off both full and short deliveries. Tonight, she stuck to the basics and hit the ideal good-length areas more consistently. 3 of her 4 wickets came from this length, which made it harder for batters to attack her.
The biggest difference was her ability to build dot-ball pressure. In her first two matches, Goud bowled 4 overs, delivering 11 dot balls while conceding 6 boundaries (25% boundary percentage). This allowed batters to keep the scoreboard moving.
Tonight, she bowled 4 overs with 11 dot balls again, but only conceded 3 boundaries (13.6% boundary percentage), cutting down scoring options. This shift in control forced errors, leading to her 4 crucial wickets.
Goud’s ability to execute under pressure was evident in this turnaround, and it reflects her resilience. Having also served as a net bowler for Mumbai last season, Goud might be ready to help UPW improve their poor WPL record.
Data from ESPNcricinfo.
UP get away with another sloppy fielding show
Written by Ritwika Dhar. You can follow her on Twitter.
UP Warriorz had a rollercoaster day on the field, oscillating between missed opportunities and moments of redemption.
Wicket keeper Uma Chetry was the worst culprit, missing three stumping opportunities - two off Shafali Verma, and one off Jemimah Rodrigues. Saima Thakor dropped Verma & Jemimah Rodrigues, while Deepti Sharma also dropped Rodrigues off her own bowling. In all, UPW dropped 5 catches tonight.
Thakor would eventually catch an off-colour Verma off Kranti Goud’s bowling, but Rodrigues took full advantage of her second (and third and fourth) life to score a combative 56 (35).
In UPW’s last match against DC, they also dropped 3 catches, including Annabel Sutherland on 22 and Marizanne Kapp in the penultimate over. Similarly, bad fielding led to unnecessary boundaries and a missed run out during the 20th over, which saw UPW lose a game they should’ve won.
However, unlike in other games this season, UPW’s fielders turned things around in the second half of the second innings. Deepti grabbed two excellent catches, Goud & Harris caught wickets off their own bowling, and a relieved Chetry executed a stumping to dismiss the dangerous Sarah Bryce.
Tonight, UPW’s bowling kept them in the game. Their powerplay stifling of Verma and the smart middle overs bowling of Goud and Sharma kept UPW in the game until their fielders decided to pitch in.
Such sloppy fielding is unlikely to go unpunished next time out.
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