Nandani Sharma's hat-trick in vain as GG defeat DC in high-scoring thriller, extend perfect start to WPL 2026

Nandani Sharma’s heroic five-wicket haul, which included an incredible hat-trick, went in vain as three-time runners-up Delhi Capitals suffered a narrow four-run defeat against Gujarat Giants in the Women’s Premier League on Sunday. The 24-year-old pacer from Chandigarh was tasked with bowling the final over of the Giants innings, and ended up collecting four wickets in six deliveries and conceding just two singles at Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium.

Nandani got rid of Kashvee Gautam – who was batting on 14 off 9 at the start of the final over – in the second delivery of the final over. Two balls later, Kanika Ahuja was stumped by Lizelle Lee after charging down the track.

Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Renuka Singh Thakur made no impact with the bat thereafter as they were both cleaned up by Nandini in the last two deliveries of the innings, making Nandani only the fourth bowler to collect a hat-trick in the WPL and resulting in GG getting bowled out for 209.

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Watch the incredible feat here:

🚨 𝐇𝐚𝐭-𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐭 🚨

Nandni Sharma, you beauty 👌 #TATAWPL's 4th hat-trick 🫡

Updates ▶️ https://t.co/owLBJyAIzb #TATAWPL | #KhelEmotionKa | #DCvGG | @DelhiCapitals pic.twitter.com/Crnlx2PW5I

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) January 11, 2026

England pacer Issy Wong was the first bowler to achieve the feat, having done so for Mumbai Indians against UP Warriorz in the inaugural season in 2023. India’s Deepti Sharma and Australia’s Grace Harris are the other two to have achieved the feat, both for UP Warriorz, albeit in different seasons – 2024 and 2025 respectively.

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Capitals fall short in inexplicable manner

DC, who are being led by star batter Jemimah Rodrigues this season after parting ways with Meg Lanning, later fell short of the target by the barest of margins despite having plenty of wickets in hand. The South African pair of Lizelle Lee (86) and Lizelle Lee (77) had put the Capitals in the driver’s seat with a 90-run partnership for the second wicket.

They appeared to have the game in the bag after smashing 70 runs in the space of just four overs – from the 16th to the 19th overs to be more precise. A majority of those runs had come off the bat of South Africa captain Wolvaardt, who raced from 29 off 21 balls to 76 off 36 deliveries.

The Capitals, however, inexplicably failed to chase down seven runs from six balls with six wickets in hand despite captain Rodrigues being in the middle alongside Wolvaardt. Veteran New Zealand all-rounder Sophie Devine bowled an incredible final over in which she got rid of both set batters and conceded just two singles to deliver one of the greatest twists in the tournament’s history.

The BIG wicket that sealed the deal ✅

The experience of Sophie Devine does it 👏

End of another #TATAWPL classic as @Giant_Cricket make it 2⃣ in 2⃣ this season 🧡

Updates ▶️ https://t.co/owLBJyAIzb #KhelEmotionKa | #DCvGG | @Giant_Cricket pic.twitter.com/tvZDLP0Jdn

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) January 11, 2026

It wasn’t just with the ball that Devine had delivered for the Giants against the Capitals in Navi Mumbai – she had earlier struck Sneh Rana for four consecutive sixes and two fours in the final over of powerplay. Veteran Indian off-spinner Rana thus ended up bowling the most expensive over in WPL history.

DC began their campaign with a 50-run thrashing at the hands of current title-holders Mumbai Indians while GG are off to a perfect start, having beaten UP Warriorz by 10 runs in another tense, high-scoring encounter.