The Women’s Premier League 2026 is coming to its final moments as the last league stage match was held between UP Warriorz and Delhi Capitals on February 1. From the match, DC Women emerged as winners and secured their spot in the eliminator game, where they will face the Gujarat Giants. From there, the winning team will then join the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for the WPL 2026 finals match.
DC Women earned a decisive win over UP Warriorz, defeating them by five wickets and finishing the run chase in 19 overs. DC Women’s squad saw a brilliant run from both its batters and bowlers. After winning the toss, the team decided to bowl in the first innings, leaving the work on the UP Warriorz batter to set a challenging target to defeat. However, their batters struggled to even set up a score of 122 in 20 overs as DC Women bowlers succeeded on their part through their Chinelle Henry, Marizanne Kapp, and Shree Charani.
UP Warriorz lost their opener and skipper Meg Lanning in the first ball of the first over; however, their other opener Deepti Sharma, somehow set up a decent start by scoring 24 runs off 19 balls. But the team soon lost their batters, Charli Knott (12 off 12), Harleen Deol (3 off 11), and Deandra Dottin (5 off 9) early. Meanwhile, Simran Shaikh added a decent run of 22 off 14, while Shipra Giri (9 off 8) and Asha Sobhana (13 off 13) exited early. Both Sophie Ecclestone (10 off 20) and Shikha Pandey (23 off 13) remain unbeaten.
On the other hand, DC Women managed their part well through their batting line-up. Openers Lizelle Lee (10 off 10) and Shafali Verma (29 off 33) made a decent start to their run chase. Coming in next, Laura Wolvaardt made a valuable contribution with her 47-run performance off 36 balls. Meanwhile, skipper Jemimah Rodrigues was another highlight performer, going unbeaten at 34 off 18. These batters were enough to get their team close to the finishing line, ending their innings in 18.4 overs at 126/5.
Speaking about the team’s performance and efforts during the post-match interview, DC Women skipper Rodrigues specifically credited the bowling unit for the win over UP Warriorz Women.
She said, “We were always assured we were a good team. It was about keeping things simple and executing. Everyone was really calm and professional. Our bowlers have been doing a great job. They have been brave enough to stick to their strengths. JB [the coach] keeps talking about how we need to stick to our strengths first… It was just about winning today. We still speak about how we can be positive.”
