New Delhi: On receiving the Player of the Match award during the post-match presentation ceremony, UP Warriors spinner Deepti Sharma was informed about her hat-trick, about which she had no prior knowledge. When informed about the hat-trick, Deepti simply replied, “I didn’t know about it.” Deepti’s hat-trick during Friday’s match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium went unnoticed until she shattered Delhi Capitals’ dreams of victory. The tension was clearly visible when Delhi achieved the target of 15 runs in 12 balls. However, Deepti’s off-spin disrupted their plans, completely changing the dynamics of the match. Deepti dismissed Annabel Sutherland on the first two balls of the 19th over, who swiped across the line and edged out Arundhati Reddy to wide long-on. An alert for a hat-trick ball was shown on the stadium’s huge screen, but Shikha Pandey reduced its chances by hitting a powerful four over Deepti’s head. Also Read – Junior U20 Federation Cup Athletics: Odisha’s quarter-miler Bapi Hansda, Haryana’s Aarti win gold with new marks. The entire stadium and spectators watching the broadcast believed that a hat-trick had been avoided. After hitting the four, Deepti had the last laugh on the very next ball when Shikha caught the bowler straight away. But after this people realized that Deepti had really taken a hat-trick. Before dismissing Annabel and Arundhati, Deepti had trapped Delhi captain Meg Lanning with the last ball of the 14th over for 60 off 46 balls, making her the first Indian bowler and second overall to take a WPL hat-trick. Game in favor of the Warriors. “The idea was how to give less runs to a set batsman and bowl him more dot balls. I really like challenges while bowling and I was favoring bowling on the stump-to-stump line, which really helped. Also Read – BCCI Awards: Deepti, Shubman win Best International Cricketer Award Advertisement “Shikha Di plays more on the front foot and I felt that the ball can come to me at any time. I always keep myself ready for catch and bowled out. We always had it in our mind that we can change the game from anywhere and we can bend any situation our way,” Deepti said after the game ended with a one-run win for the Warriors. Before making a major impact with the ball in leading the Warriors to their first WPL win over Delhi, Deepti also played a part in another aspect of her all-round skills: batting. In the absence of Chamari Athapaththu, Deepti was promoted to bat at number three on a slow pitch, after an excellent inning of 53 off 36 balls against Mumbai Indians on Thursday night. Also Read – Deepti, Titas make huge jump in ICC Women’s T20I rankings. In a make-or-break game for the Warriors on Friday, Deepti was the key player, carrying the batting innings when everyone else was flailing. Her 59 came off 48 balls, and although her first boundary hit the edge, her authoritative smash at mid-on signaled the intentions of Deepti who was eager to make a mark with the bat. Even with the lack of partners at the other end, Deepti continued to get boundaries through swatting, pulling, sweeping and scooping. She brought up her half-century in 45 balls with two runs over long-on and pulled Shikha Pandey to fine leg for six, before being dismissed at long-on in the final over. Also Read – INDW vs AUSW: Harman’s two wickets on day three were the turning point, says Sneh Rana Deepti’s batting faced constant scrutiny as her innings were criticized in the T20s and even in the final. Questions were also raised about his deserving place in the eleven. , However, Deepti’s consecutive fifties in the last two matches have highlighted her impressive batting performance, especially when other batsmen in the Warriors team have struggled. “I’m just backing up my shots and power. I maintained confidence in myself about the shots that could be used in a particular situation.” “The main thing about my batting was to play as per the given situation. I just want to continue what I have been doing so far. There is no limit to learning and the more I can learn, the better it is for me,” said Deepti. In WPL 2023, Deepti had a low strike rate of 83.33 while she scored 90 runs including 11 fours in nine innings. Deepti’s strike rate has reached a high of 132.69 in seven matches so far in WPL 2024, while she has scored 207 runs in seven innings, which included 25 fours and four sixes. Deepti’s efforts to improve with the bat caught the attention of all-rounder Grace Harris, who took two wickets in the final over, taking three wickets. “Deepti has had a very good tournament, especially with the bat. She is trying to increase the strike rate. He’s got the shots, but it’s about trying to encourage him to get them out at what time. I really like him on the field
