Delhi Capitals Women (Playing XI): Meg Lanning(c), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Annabel Sutherland, Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen, Sarah Bryce(w), Niki Prasad, Minnu Mani, Shikha Pandey, Titas Sadhu

Meg Lanning: I think it looks a good batting wicket. It does not matter what you do first till you do it well. The group has done well to switch on and off when needed. We have got one change. Most opening bowlers in the league have done well, the ball has swung around and for us it is about getting through that period.

Gujarat Giants Women (Playing XI): Beth Mooney(w), Dayalan Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Ashleigh Gardner(c), Deandra Dottin, Phoebe Litchfield, Bharti Fulmali, Kashvee Gautam, Meghna Singh, Tanuja Kanwar, Priya Mishra

Gujarat Giants Women have won the toss and have opted to field

Meg Lanning: I think it looks a good batting wicket. It does not matter what you do first till you do it well. The group has done well to switch on and off when needed. We have got one change. Most opening bowlers in the league have done well, the ball has swung around and for us it is about getting through that period.

Ashleigh Gardner: We are going to have a bowl. It was a pretty good surface the other night, our bowlers have stemmed the run flow and hopefully we can do that today as well. There was some dew last time and hope batting becomes easier later on. It has been a challenge but having some international expericence and players has helped. Different people have stood up at different times but most exciting thing has been our bowlers; be it Kashvee or Mona.

Gujarat Giants Women have won the toss and have opted to field

Ashleigh Gardner: We are going to have a bowl. It was a pretty good surface the other night, our bowlers have stemmed the run flow and hopefully we can do that today as well. There was some dew last time and hope batting becomes easier later on. It has been a challenge but having some international expericence and players has helped. Different people have stood up at different times but most exciting thing has been our bowlers; be it Kashvee or Fulmali.

Gujarat Giants Women have won the toss and have opted to field

Pitch and Conditions: "We are back on pitch number 5. 65 meters is the longest boundary straight, 50 and 59 meters on the square. Looks good. Gujarat Giants scored 180+ on this pitch. It is quite hard and there is some grass covering. There is runs on offer once again. The atmospheric conditions will also play a part; there is going to be dew later on. The spinners will also have some help. The bowlers should make the batters hit to the long boundary," inform WV Raman and Stacy Ann-King.

18:30 Local Time, 13:00 GMT: We are into the final stages of the league phase and Delhi Capitals, who have already sealed a top three spot, are playing their last game. It is a very important one as well because a win will ensure they have a good chance of making it to the final directly. They started the campaign in a scratchy manner; scrapping to a 2-wicket win in the opening game and losing the second, but as the tournament has progressed they have become better and better, they are currently on a three matching winning streak and have brushed aside today's opponents - Gujarat Giants - comfortably in the reverse fixture. The Giants are on a roll themselves. Having won just one in their first four games, the Giants were almost in a must-win situation but back to back wins has taken them to a third place. A win today will not only see them take over Mumbai Indians at second place but also keep their chances of qualifying for the final directly alive. Lots to play for both the teams. We should have a cracker. Toss and teams coming up.. Stay tuned

Preview

Their playoffs qualification hopes rekindled with successive wins for the first time in three seasons of WPL, Gujarat Giants now run into table-toppers Delhi Capitals on Friday (March 8) in their penultimate round-robin fixture of the season.

After three defeats in the first half of WPL 2025, Giants campaign seemed to be eerily following the pattern of last two editions with a stark gap between potential and performance. However, with back-to-back comprehensive wins over Royal Challengers Bengaluru and UP Warriorz, Giants have leapfrogged competition to go second on the points table after their six completed games and - for the first time in competition history - have a real shot at that elusive playoffs berth.

After a bit of tinkering through the first half, the Giants' batting order finally has a settled look. To top it off, Harleen Deol and Ash Gardner are back among the runs and Beth Mooney's match-winning act of 96* against UPW has only added to their batting might. It's a welcome relief for Giants who have struggled for decent opening partnerships throughout.

On the bowling front, it's the relatively inexperienced pair of Kashvee Gautam and Tanuja Kanwer leading the charge in the pace and spin department respectively. After starting off with an expensive two-over spell in the high-scoring tournament opener against RCB, Gautam has gone on to both impress and befuddle the best of batters with her swing bowling in the PowerPlay and clever variations at death. After six games, despite the beating she took in the opening game, Gautam boasts of the best economy rate of 5.30 across all teams and is currently the second-highest wicket-taker of the season with nine scalps at an average of 11.77. Giants have four bowlers who have taken at least seven wickets each thus far, including star all-rounders Gardner and Deandra Dottin. Bowling has been their strongest suit and they'll be banking on it for early breakthroughs to unsettle the most successful opening partnership of the competition.

The Capitals, like in the previous two seasons, may again have been the first ones to secure their playoffs berth but would unlikely take their foot off the pedal in their bid to now ensure a direct ticket to the finale, just like the past two editions. After a start-stop kind of first half of the season, DC have peaked at the right time and taken ascendancy with two ruthless victories against MI and RCB on successive nights to wrap up the Bengaluru leg.

As tempted as they would have been to rest some of their regulars for what is their last league game, DC had nearly a week off to ensure optimal rest and would unlikely field anything short of their strongest XI. Should they actually succeed in that and make it a hat-trick of straight entries to the WPL final, their immediate next challenge will be to sustain that peak and momentum given that they'll have another week off before the big showdown on March 15.

When: Friday, March 8 at 7:30 PM IST

Where: Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow

What to expect:

Team News

Delhi Capitals: The table-toppers are unlikely to tamper their winning combination despite qualifying for the playoffs.

Probable XI: Shafali Verma, Meg Lanning (C), Jess Jonassen, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Annabel Sutherland, Sarah Bryce (wk), Niki Prasad, Shikha Pandey, Minnu Mani, Nallapureddy Charani

Gujarat Giants: After two successive wins, Giants might also be tempted to go in with an unchanged XI.

Probable XI: Beth Mooney (wk), Dayalan Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Ashleigh Gardner (C), Phoebe Litchfield, Deandra Dottin, Kashvee Gautam, Bharti Fulmali, Meghna Singh, Tanuja Kanwar, Priya Mishra

Squads:

Delhi Capitals Women Squad: Meg Lanning(c), Shafali Verma, Jess Jonassen, Jemimah Rodrigues, Annabel Sutherland, Marizanne Kapp, Sarah Bryce(w), Niki Prasad, Shikha Pandey, Minnu Mani, Nallapureddy Charani, Nandini Kashyap, Sneha Deepthi, Titas Sadhu, Alice Capsey, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Taniya Bhatia

Gujarat Giants Women Squad: Beth Mooney(w), Dayalan Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Ashleigh Gardner(c), Deandra Dottin, Phoebe Litchfield, Bharti Fulmali, Kashvee Gautam, Meghna Singh, Tanuja Kanwar, Priya Mishra, Sayali Satghare, Prakashika Naik, Shabnam Md Shakil, Mannat Kashyap, Simran Shaikh, Danielle Gibson, Laura Wolvaardt