Sophie Devine left Vadodara on Tuesday evening with two souvenirs: a Player-of-the-Match award and, more importantly, the Women’s Premier League’s purple cap. Her 4 for 37 steered Gujarat Giants past Delhi Capitals by three runs and nudged her wicket tally to 15, one ahead of Delhi’s left-arm spinner Nandani Sharma.
“I’ve tried to keep things simple—hit the top of off, mix the pace, that sort of thing,” Devine said in the post-match chat. “Some days it works, some days it doesn’t, but tonight the plan held together.”
Purple Cap rundown
Sharma, who managed 1 for 26 in the narrow defeat, slips to second yet still boasts a wicket in every outing so far. Her 5 for 33 earlier in the season remains one of only two five-fors; Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Shreyanka Patil owns the other.
A small chasing pack follows: Amelia Kerr (Mumbai Indians) and N Shree Charani (Delhi Capitals) sit on 12 wickets, while RCB pair Lauren Bell and Nadine de Klerk have 11 apiece. Patil rounds out the top seven with ten.
Former India seamer Isa Guha, analysing on television, noted, “Devine and Sharma aren’t just collecting wickets—they’re breaking partnerships. That’s why they’re miles clear.”
Orange Cap picture
Mumbai’s dominance with the bat continues. Nat Sciver-Brunt climbed to the summit after the season’s first century, an unbeaten 100 from 57 balls against RCB, and is the only player past 300 runs—319 in five knocks. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur follows on 260.
Phoebe Litchfield (UP Warriorz) sits third with 243, just ahead of Smriti Mandhana (236) and Lizelle Lee (230). The chasing group remains close, but Sciver-Brunt has given herself a handy buffer.
“It’s early days,” Sciver-Brunt cautioned. “You’ve got to keep scoring because somebody always comes hard in this league.”
Other numbers that matter
• Sixes: Litchfield’s clean hitting keeps her top with 17.
• Best economy: Bell is conceding just 5.82 an over, the only bowler under six.
• MVP tracker: Sciver-Brunt, Devine and Kerr occupy the podium for now, a nod to all-round contribution rather than just one discipline.
What next?
Gujarat head to Bengaluru on Friday, where Devine will aim to stretch her lead on more spin-friendly turf. Delhi, meanwhile, face table-toppers Mumbai in Pune—a stern test for Sharma’s control and for the Capitals’ middle order.
As the league table tightens, the margins look thin. A single big spell or a brisk fifty could swing both the cap races and, more importantly, the points column.
