Jemimah hogs limelight

Jemimah Rodrigues led from the front to anchor Delhi Capitals’ tense run-chase with a gritty fifty, guiding her team to a much-needed seven-wicket win over Mumbai Indians in the Women’s Premier League here on Tuesday. Put in to bat on a slow surface, Mumbai Indians’ struggles in the powerplay continued before Nat Sciver-Brunt played another blinder (66 not out off 45) to take her team to 154-5. After a rather productive start provided by Lizelle Lee (46 off 28) and Shafali Verma (29 off 24), Delhi Capitals lost their way in the middle over before Jemimah (51 not out off 37) calmed nerves in the dressing room by completing the chase in 19 overs. Veteran Marizanne Kapp (10 not out off 6) provided the support that Jemimah needed at the other end and closed out the match with a six. It was Delhi Capitals’ second win in five games while Mumbai Indians suffered their fourth loss in six games. “We really need to push when we are batting and bowling in the powerplay,” said Mumbai Indians captain Harmanpreet Kaur after the loss. In the powerplay, Shafali missed connecting a flatter one down the leg side from left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma to see her stumps rattled. South African Lee, who is in red hot form thus far, was disappointed after being adjudged stumped off Amanjot Kaur in the 11th over. The umpire took time in taking the call after Lee slightly lost her balance off another one down the leg side. Despite Hayley Mathews’ return from injury, Mumbai Indians have not been able to get going in the powerplay. It was no different on Tuesday as the West Indian and her opening partner Sajeevan Sajana fell cheaply, both seeing their stumps disturbed. For Delhi Capitals, Marizanne Kapp was accurate as ever and ended up just conceding eight runs in four overs besides castling Matthews. The onus was again on the seasoned duo of Sciver-Brunt and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (41 off 33) to steer the team to a competitive total. Sciver-Brunt remained unbeaten on 66 not out off 45 balls in a fluent knock including two sixes and six fours. It was her third fifty plus score of the season. Besides the Sciver-Brunt show, the batting performance once again left a lot to be desired. It was only the second game of the season at this venue with batting proving to be more challenging compared to Navi Mumbai. @@@@