Delhi Capitals won their first WPL 2026 match by defeating the UP Warriorz on the final ball in a match at the bottom of the table. DC made a comfortable chase difficult for themselves, taking it to the final ball with 68 required off 10 deliveries and 10 wickets in hand. Lizelle Lee (67) and Shafali Verma’s all-around performance (36 off 32 and 2 for 16) were crucial to DC’s victory.
Marizanne Kapp hit a boundary with the second ball to reduce the score to two from four when six was required from six. Jitters from DC’s last game started to mount as two dots and a single came next. But Laura Wolvaardt sealed the victory with a boundary off the final ball. After three games, UPW is already without a win.
Jemimah Rodrigues put Warriorz at bat. Kapp thudded Kiran Navgire’s pads on the second ball, but the umpire rejected the appeal. Navgire made a mess of it by lofting the next delivery straight to mid-off, but she survived on review thanks to the umpire’s ruling on wickets. Australians Meg Lanning and Phoebe Litchfield struck three boundaries in the second over without wasting any time. Litchfield found two more boundaries in the following over, continuing to play the aggressor. UPW finished the PowerPlay with a healthy score of 47 for 1 after three more boundaries.
Sneh Rana stumped the dancer Litchfield by turning one past her right after the first-six. UPW started rebuilding once more in an effort to lay the groundwork for a significant victory. From the seventh to the twelfth over, boundaries were scored in every over as Lanning teamed up with Harleen Deol to unleash the paddles, sweeps, pulls, and long levers. UPW surged past 100 with three boundaries apiece in the eleventh and twelfth overs, while Lanning reached her fifty off thirty-two deliveries. They reached 130/2 in just 15 overs thanks to Deol’s two fours off Shree Charani and an extra-cover drive off Verma.
However, the batting side’s fortunes drastically changed when Lanning was dismissed to deep mid-wicket by Nandni Sharma. Deol, the set hitter, was unexpectedly retired out after just 11 runs were scored off the 16th and 17th overs. Deol was perplexed and left feeling let down on 47. The Gujarat Giants may have benefited from the change earlier in the evening, but UPW did not, as Chloe The replacement hitter, Tryon, was hit for a three-ball by Charani.As UPW proceeded to capsize at the end, Kapp had Sophie Ecclestone plumb in front of him. After UPW finished on 154 for 8 after scoring just 24 in their final five overs for the loss of five wickets, Verma picked up Shweta Sehrawat and No. 9 batsman Deepti Sharma.
In response, DC got off to a strong start with openers Lee and Verma. With the runs steadily starting to flow, they found early boundaries and didn’t allow the opening bowlers rest. The first stage ended at 46/0 when Lee drove Tryon for 16 runs in the last PowerPlay over. Before Verma added two boundaries in an 18-run over, Lee slog-swept Sophie Ecclestone for six, preventing her from finding a rhythm.
After taking a six off, Lee raised her fifty. At the halfway point of their innings, Tryon was leading DC by over nine runs per over. The 94-run partnership ended when Verma was dismissed by Asha Sobhana in the 12th over. After DC managed to score just 21 from overs 11 to 14, Deepti caught Lee in the 15th over as the South African tried to hit her way out.
In the sixteenth over, the seasoned Ecclestone was dismissed for thirteen. In a 12-run 17th over, Rodrigues used sweeps and reverse-sweeps to aggressively counter Deepti. In the next two overs, UPW turned things around, giving up just nine runs and dismissing Rodrigues to halt the 34-run partnership. DC will be happy to have started the 2026 season after making a straightforward pursuit difficult for themselves.
Brief Scores: UP Warriorz 154/8 in 20 overs (Meg Lanning 54, Harleen Deol 47; Shafali Verma 2-16, Marizanne Kapp 2-24) lost to Delhi Capitals 158/3 in 20 overs (Lizelle Lee 67, Shafali Verma 36; Deepti Sharma 2-26, Asha Sobhana 1-20) by seven wickets
