Tahlia McGrath’s top knock wasn’t enough to put UP Warriorz past Meg Lanning’s Delhi Capitals in the WPL

The first head-to-head of Australian captains in the Women’s Premier League was won by Meg Lanning, who defeated Alyssa Healy’s UP Warriorz with her Delhi Capitals.

Perhaps the Australian who shone brightest was Tahlia McGrath, who hit a stunning 90-of-50 in a valiant attempt to secure an unlikely Warriorz win.

But McGrath’s batting, the WPL’s highest to date, couldn’t stop Capitals from winning by 42 runs as another Aussie, Jess Jonassen, was named player of the match with 42-of-20 with the stick and 3-43 with the ball .

Lanning had led from the front, opening the batting and smashing a 42-ball 70 to build the Capitals’ 4-211 total in their 20 overs.

Healy also opened, hitting her first two balls for four, but she took the first of three wickets for Jonassen, who was dismissed for 24 of 17 balls.

“She definitely often hits me so well in the nets that I can overtake her,” said Jonassen.

“It’s always fun to play against Australians.”

That was the first of three wickets in six balls that put the Warriorz response in deep trouble.

Despite McGrath’s defiance, they failed to recover, finishing 5-169.

The prospect of Queensland’s Harris sisters playing each other was eluded due to restrictions on how many overseas players can field, with Capitals skipping Laura and Warriorz despite winning the match in their last game.