WPL 2023: Top 5 batting performances from second week

Shafali verma. (Photo Source: Twitter/WPL)

The second week of the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) has been brought to a close. All five franchises have given their all on the cricket field and courtesy of which, fans have been kept at the edge of their seats in the ongoing T20 carnival.

The second week of the ongoing marquee tournament has witnessed many jaw-dropping performances. However, Among them, there are some remarkable batting displays that are bound to remain etched in the hearts and minds of cricket enthusiasts forever. As the race to seal the top three slots of the WPL 2023 points table gets spicier, let us look at the top five batting displays of the second week of the T20 extravaganza.

Here are the top five batting performances of the second week of WPL 2023

5. Jess Jonassen – 29* runs off 15 balls vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore took center stage in the 11th match of the ongoing T20 extravaganza. After being put into bat, RCB posted 150 runs on the board in 20 overs, with Ellyse Perry (67* runs off 52 deliveries)  top-scoring. Shikha Pandey was Delhi’s star with the ball, picking up three wickets for 23 runs.

Chasing the target of 151, Capitals lost their fourth wicket in the form of Jemimah Rodrigues (32 runs off 28 balls) in the 15th over. The match was interestingly poised with Delhi requiring 42 runs off 33 deliveries and a new batter Jess Jonassen having arrived at the crease.

Jonassen took the attack to the opposition right from the get-go and knocked the wind out of the Bangalore bowlers. She hammered 29* runs off 15 deliveries and helped her team get over the line. Marizanne Kapp also played her part and scored an ubeaten 32off as many balls. Jonassen was handed the Player of the Match award for her brilliant innings.

4. Ashleigh Gardner – 51* off 33 balls vs Delhi Capitals

Gujarat Giants faced Delhi Capitals in the 14th match of the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League. Meg Lanning won the toss and opted to put Gujarat into bat. Sneh Rana & Co. did not have a great start and were 53/2 in 9.5 overs with the in-form Harleen Deol back into the hut.

Just when things looked tricky for Giants, Ashleigh Gardner joined hands with Laura Wolvaardt and hammered Delhi’s bowlers all across the park. The duo stitched an 81-run stand for the third wicket to bring Gujarat back into the game. Wolvaardt (57 off 45) departed for a well-complied half-century but Gardner continued her merry ways and hammered an unbeaten 51 off 33.

Riding on half-centuries from Wolvaardt and Gardner, Gujarat posted a competitive total of 147 runs on the board. Delhi in response were bundled out for 136 and Giants won the game by 11 runs. Gardner was impeccable with the ball too and registered stellar figures of 3.4-0-19-2.

3. Harmanpreet Kaur – 51 runs off 30 balls vs Gujarat Giants

Mumbai Indians locked horns with Gujarat Giants in the 12th match of the ongoing edition of WPL. Gujarat won the toss and decided to field first. Sneh Rana & Co. had an ideal start with the ball as they got rid of Hayley Matthews in the first over itself. However, Yastika Bhatia and Nat Sciver-Brunt notched up a 74-run stand for the second wicket to put the pressure back on the opposition.

However, Gujarat got rid of both the set batters in the span of eight deliveries to get back into the game. The Mumbai franchise needed a partnership and Harmanpreet Kaur and Amelia Kerr provided the same. The duo stitched a 51-run stand, with the MI skipper being the major contributor.

After Kerr got out for 19 runs, Gujarat took wickets at regular intervals. Despite the wickets falling at one end, Harmanpreet stayed positive and kept putting bowling attacks under the pump with her glorious stroke play. She smashed 51 off 30 and riding on her knock, Mumbai posted 162 runs on the board. Gujarat, in reply, could only score 107 runs in 20 overs and Harmanpreet & Co. won the game by 55 runs.

2. Kanika Ahuja – 46 runs off 30 balls vs UP Warriorz

Royal Challengers Bangalore clashed against UP Warriorz in the 13th match of the T20 extravaganza. RCB won the toss and skipper Smriti Mandhana opted to bowl. Bangalore’s bowlers were quite exceptional and bowled out Alyssa Healy & Co. for 135 runs in 19.3 overs. Ellyse Perry was RCB’s wrecker-in-chief, picking up three wickets while giving away just 16 runs in four overs.

During the chase, Bangalore were in a precarious situation, having lost four wickets for 60 runs in nine overs. It seemed RCB would succumb to yet another defeat but Kanika Ahuja was up for the challenge. She took the UP bowlers to the cleaners and change the momentum of the game in the favour of her side.

Kanika smashed 46 runs off 30 deliveries to help Bangalore win the game by five wickets and register their first win of the ongoing marquee event. Her magnificent innings consisted of eight boundaries and a six. The 20-year-old was adjudged the Player of the Match for her sensational innings.

1. Shafali Verma – 76* runs off 28 balls vs Gujarat Giants

Delhi Capitals took the stage alongside Gujarat Giants in the ninth match of the T20 carnival. Gujarat won the toss and decided to have a bat. However, Marizanne Kapp was on top of her game and bagged an incredible five-wicket haul to help restrict Gujarat to a meager total of 105 runs.

After Kapp displayed her class with the ball, Shafali Verma put up an exhibition of her flamboyant stroke play and inflicted carnage on the oppositionk. Gujarat’s bowlers had no answers to Shafali’s onslaught and the youngster smashed her half-century in just 19 deliveries.

The opening batter ended up scoring an unbeaten 76 off 28. Shafali’s breathtaking knock consisted of 10 boundaries and five maximums. Courtesy of her blistering innings, Meg Lanning & Co. won the game in 7.1 overs itself, with 10 wickets to spare.