WPL 2026: Litmus test for Jemimah the captain as Delhi Capitals takes on an upbeat Gujarat Giants

After an underwhelming outing in its opening fixture of the Women’s Premier League, Delhi Capitals will eye a return to winning ways against an upbeat Gujarat Giants come Sunday.

The Giants are fresh off an 10-run win over UP Warriorz, which saw a commendable show from their batting order en route to the side’s highest WPL team score of 207. Addition of Sophie Devine has given the lineup, that has historically been dependent on Beth Mooney and Ashleigh Gardner, more firepower. Her quickfire start in the PowerPlay put the Warriorz bowling attack on the backfoot early on.

What coach Michael Klinger will be happier with is the show his Indian batting stock managed in Navi Mumbai. Anushka Sharma, a player Klinger thinks will play for India soon, was confident and technically sound on debut. She had a good variety of shots in her arsenal and adapted her game well to the situations and bowlers she faced during the innings. Bharti Fulmali, who has been slotted in that finisher’s role for a few seasons now with the Giants, came out and smacked two sixes in the final over to plump up the Giants total.

In Australian Georgia Wareham, who has carried her WBBL purple patch into the WPL, Giants have an allround superstar who provided visual evidence of how she can turn the game on its head in a matter of a few deliveries, both with ball and bat.

After countless experiments, Giants finally look like they have some sustainable balance and enter this duel against three-time runner-up.

Also read | Sciver-Brunt, Carey dominate as captain Jemimah tastes defeat in Navi Mumbai

The same can’t be said about the Capitals. The bowling looked blunted against a marauding Mumbai Indians attack. The squad has only three seamers in total – two of them being overseas all-rounders: Marizanne Kapp and Chinelle Henry. Nandini Sharma is the lone Indian representation in the seam pool, which is not the ideal situation for the side.

But the bigger headache will be how hapless Capitals’ lineup looked on a fertile batting track. Shafali Verma was paired with Lizelle Lee up top, but the pair didn’t get going. Laura Wolvaardt, new skipper Jemimah Rodrigues and Kapp all fell cheaply. Henry and Niki Prasad mounted a resistance but it was too little too late in a chase of close to 200 against the home side.

A solution might be there in just rejigging the batting order and experimentation, coach Jonathan Batty mentioned after the side’s 50-run loss to MI.

MI’s opening combination never got going, with the run barrage coming from experienced duo Nat Sciver-Brunt and Harmanpreet Kaur.

If Giants’ opening salvo is anything to go by, Jemimah’s litmus test as skipper will enter a higher difficulty level.

Published on Jan 11, 2026