Jess Jonassen lauded Delhi Capitals’ captain Meg Lanning’s leadership after her all-round show and a fantastic 70 from Lanning powered the team to its second consecutive victory in the Women’s Premier League at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai on Tuesday.
The Capitals posted 211 on the board, thanks to Lanning’s fireworks at the top of the order and Jonassen’s final flourish. But even as Tahlia McGrath scored an unbeaten 90 off 50, the UP Warriorz lost by 42 runs, particularly because of the lack of support at the other end.
WPL 2023 Delhi Capitals v UP Warriorz blog: McGrath’s knock in vain as Lanning and Co win by 42 runs
Jonassen, who shares the dressing-room with Lanning in Australia, said in the post-match presentation, “Meg’s an exceptional leader. I am really excited that I am part of the same team that she is over here. She just has this calmness about her and she’s able to project that over every other person out there in the field.”
She added: “It doesn’t matter what the situation of the game is, she always seems to have a plan or have an option or have a thought about something so I really enjoy having her as the captain of this team. It’s nice to bounce some ideas off her as well.”
Jonassen not only scored 42 off just 20 deliveries but struck thrice with the ball to ensure the Warriorz’s chase was dented early. First, she deceived compatriot Alyssa Healy to dismiss her for 24 and in the same over, also dismissed Kiran Navgire. At the death, she also dismissed Devika Vaidya to finish with 3/43.
Analysing her own performance, she said, “I probably struggled in the first few balls with the bat, I was trying to overhit the ball a little bit. The strategic timeout came at a really good time for me, it just sort of helped me refresh and go back to do what I do best, making sure I timed the ball and didn’t try to overhit. It was a really good batting wicket. If you’re able to play good cricket shots, you are able to get good value for your shots out there.
“A little bit expensive with the ball in the end. But I was really pleased with my start. It’s something I’ve wanted to improve on. To take those couple of wickets in the powerplay, particularly my Aussie teammate Alyssa Healy. She was really firing tonight so to get her when I did, I was really pleased with that,” she added.
Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals’ all-rounder Radha Yadav, who took a terrific catch to dismiss Deepti Sharma, said, “I thought the catch was easy for me. I don’t know how it looked from the outside. We are backing each other and communicating well within the group. The players understand each other well and we are enjoying this tournament.”
Watch, WPL 2023: Radha Yadav takes catch-of-the-tournament contender in DC’s match against UPW