Oh, this was some game. A tug of war all through, a twist seemingly every ball, a constant changing of favourites. This rivalry is well and truly on its way to becoming something special. Unlike last year where the game went down to the wire, to a last ball of the innings, and Sajana Sajeevan won it with the bat with a massive six, it wasn’t to be this time around. The setting was very similar, it was Sajana with the ball this time around in the final over, and she’d done a superb job in keeping MI in the game. It wasn’t to be..

Let’s talk about that final over first

Delhi needed ten runs to win. Sajana was brought on to bowl her first over of the match. A misfield in the deep off the first ball leaked a boundary, the second brought about a slog that gave the Capitals another two, and singles followed in the next two balls. Two runs were needed off two balls. Niki Prasad, the set batter, slogged, miscued, and holed out. 2 off 1.

Arundhati Reddy, the new batter, chipped the ball just beyond Kaptaan Harman at cover, who quickly gathered and threw the ball back at the keeper. Reddy was coming back for the second, dived full stretched, and just made it inside the crease before Yastika Bhatia could whip the bails off. JUST.

It wasn’t to be ours!

Nat sets it up for us

Aapli Nat, aka Natalie Sciver-Brunt, wasted no time getting into her beast mode, where she milks runs for fun. In a solid 73-run stand with Harman (42 off 22), she laid the platform for a big score, got a pretty big 59-ball 80 herself, but sadly, the rest of our lower order couldn’t quite get the final finish we’d have liked. MI were bowled out in 19.1 overs for 164.

Pace, pace and more pace – Shabnim breathes fire!

Four overs on the trot, hitting the 125kph mark consistently in pace, and refusing the give the DC batters an inch. Shabnim was on song and got the dangerous Meg Lanning’s off-stump uprooted. Her spell: 4-0-18-1 amidst Shafali Varma’s flier. ** Clap, clap **

Shafali tees off, the spinners bring it back

With seven fours and two sixes in her 18-ball knock of 43, Shafali was batting on a different surface to the rest. It needed the wily Hayley Matthews to get her to miscue one, who along with the equally dependable Amelia Kerr, got a couple of wickets and put the brakes on the middle order. Sarah Bryce, though, hit a couple of big ones at the death, and along with Niki Prasad, who had an impressive debut, ensured the asking rate in the final few overs didn’t go out of hand for the Capitals.

And then came that final over, with all the drama. 100/100 for the effort. Paltan, we can take a lot of heart in the way the girls fought. This loss will sting, but it’s only going to get us more motivated for the coming week. We Believe..