WPL 2026, Match 4: All-round brilliance from Sophie Devine helps Gujarat Giants pull off a heist over Delhi Capitals

The Gujarat Giants locked horns with the Delhi Capitals in Match 4 of the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2026 at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday, January 11. The Capitals won the toss and elected to field first. Both the teams refrained from making any changes for this encounter.

Wicketkeeper-batter Beth Mooney and Sophie Devine opened the batting for the Giants, providing them a good start. The duo were able to find the gaps and keep the pressure on the Capitals bowlers early on. In no time, the Gujarat franchise was 48 for no loss after the fifth over as only Marizanne Kapp was able to contain the batters until this point.

The innings received a major boost in the sixth over bowled by Sneh Rana. Devine belted her for a record 32 runs as all the balls went for boundaries - 4,4,6,6,6,6. The Kiwi was dropped off the second ball of the same over by Kapp and the former made full use of it. The right-hander also crossed the 50-run mark during the over, achieving it in 25 balls.

The opening partnership continued to prosper, but it was almost completely a Devine show. Mooney could not get away but was happy to give the strike to Devine. Eventually, the Australian's stuttering innings came to end in the ninth over as the left-hander was caught and bowled by Sree Charani for 19(16). The Giants were 94/1 at this stage.

Devine continued with her merry ways as the Kiwi kept punishing the bowlers. Just when it looked like a hundred was a certainty right-arm pacer Nandani Sharma got the big fish out for a magnificent 95 runs off 42 balls, an innings which comprised seven fours and eight sixes.

Despite Devine's loss the Giants looked set to post a huge total. Captain Ashleigh Gardner led by example as the right-hander formed productive partnerships with Anushka Sharma (13 off 10) and Kashvee Gautam (14 off 10). However, Gardner could not go the distance as the 28-year-old was dismissed for 49 runs off 26 balls in the 18th over.

The Giants had crossed the 200-run mark just before their skipper's wicket, but the team could not add many runs in the last two overs as they finished at 209 all out in their 20 overs. For the Capitals, Nandani Sharma was the pick of the bowlers as the youngster scalped a hat-trick in the last over, the fourth of the league so far, and also helped herself to her first five-wicket haul (5/33) in just her second WPL game.

The Capitals got off to a decent start as keeper-batter Lizelle Lee took the charge. Shafali Verma did not look like her best as she fell for 14(12). Lee's compatriot, Laura Wolvaardt, joined her and the duo formed a much-needed partnership. The runs were not coming at a higher than needed pace and so the required run rate kept climbing up bit by bit.

Lee was at her aggressive best as the 33-year-old scored her maiden WPL fifty in just her second game. The partnership (90 off 55) looked threatening for the Giants, but it was clipped with the wicket of Lee who was out for a splendid 86(54).

The West Indian Chinelle Henry (7 off 6) could not do much. Nevertheless, Wolvaardt picked up pace by this stage as the South African captain combined with her skipper Jemimah Rodrigues for a quickfire 58-run partnership off 23 balls. The pair brought the Capitals on the doorstep of victory with a 22-run 19th over bowled by Gautam.

With just seven needed off the last over, Devine was brought into the attack. The Kiwi dismissed Rodrigues (15 off 9) off the second ball and Wolvaardt (77 off 38) off the fifth ball. With still five runs needed off the last ball a slower delivery was missed by Rana as the Giants pulled off a heist, winning the match by four runs. Devine, for her all-round brilliance, was adjudged as the Player of the Match.