Record Alert: Retired from international cricket, Meg Lanning becomes fastest to 9,000 T20 runs with fourth WPL fifty

Delhi Capitals (DC) captain Meg Lanning on March 3 became the fastest to 9,000 runs in T20 cricket. Lanning achieved the feat in 289 innings, eight less than New Zealand’s Sophie Devine. 
 

The former Australian captain achieved the massive feat with a half-century against Gujarat Giants at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 clash. 
 

Apart from Lanning and Devine, Gujarat Giants captain Beth Mooney (299 innings) and New Zealand's Suzie Bates (323 innings) have crossed the 9,000-run mark in women’s T20 cricket.

Lanning hits another fifty

After Mooney won the toss and opted to field first, Lanning played second fiddle to opener Shafali Verma and Alice Capsey who attacked the new-ball bowlers. She hit her first six in the 10th over. In the 11th over, her catch was dropped by Phoebe Litchfield. She accelerated and reached her half-century from 39 balls. 
 

However, she could not carry on and was dismissed by Meghna Singh. She attempted an aerial shot but could not beat point fielder Dayalan Hemalatha. Delhi Capitals lost plenty of wickets in the slog overs but Annabel Sutherland and Shikha Pandey's cameos helped them post 163 on the board.
 

Lanning continues her dominance

This was Lanning’s fourth half-century in WPL. She is also the leading run-scorer in the league’s history. Last year, she won the Orange Cap with 345 runs from nine innings. In the current season, she has scored 147 runs from four innings already. Her first half-century of the season came against UP Warriorz on February 26. She is currently the leading run-scorer in the ongoing WPL season.

Easy win for Delhi Capitals 

Delhi Capitals beat Gujarat Giants by 25 runs to reclaim the top spot on the points table. But Lanning was not happy with the batting effort. 

“We felt short. We felt 20 short, particularly with the start we got ourselves. We felt it was a challenge to get early wickets and we did. I was a little bit frustrated to be fair in my first 30 runs, I would have liked to strike a bit more. something to work on for the upcoming games. Would have loved to carry on,” she added. 

 

Lanning also lauded her pacers for picking up early wickets to derail Gujarat Giants' run chase.

 

“It was great, Titas bowled excellently in her first game and Shikha is bowling well throughout. When it swings it's dangerous and it can get good players out. You gotta keep winning throughout the tournament and it will be close in terms of the top 3. We will enjoy the win as that's important and we will be looking forward to going to Delhi. Not too much time to think, which is good in a way. We head off tomorrow and play Tuesday night against a team who are in good form and it's a great challenge for us. We will enjoy it,” she added.
 

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