MATCH STORIES
Follow UsJess Jonassen bats as a finisher. Then she bowls at the death, the start, and the middle.
Being a finisher and an all-phase spinner are two of the hardest cricketing skills to muster. If you don’t believe it, try to name an all-rounder who can do both and do it properly.
You’ll find it hard. Or even impossible.
However, Jonassen can, and she did exactly that today. She is a rarity in women’s cricket, but despite that, the Delhi Capitals still chose to sit her out in the season's first two games. They relied heavily on their all-rounders Alice Capsey and Minnu Mani for the spin duties, along with the left-arm spin of Radha Yadav, who impressed with a four-fer against the UP Warriorz.
Today, on a pitch where RCB spinners gave away 106 runs in just nine overs, Jonassen bowled her four for just 21 and picked up three quick wickets at the end, ending any possibility of a late onslaught from RCB. Her bowling at the death today was in sync with how she has bowled in this phase since 2021.
She has bowled roughly a third of all her overs at the death in the abovementioned time period and has averaged just 10.9 with an economy of 7.7. She has struck every eight balls as well.
Meg Lanning knew how good Jonassen was at the death, and hence, once she was in the playing eleven, it was a no-brainer for her to bowl Jonassen at the crunch moment of a high-scoring chase.
What stood out about Jonassen’s bowling today was her choice of angles and length.
She went over the wicket to the right-hander and bowled wide of the leg stump, targeting the pads of the batters.
In front of her was S. Meghana, striking at 127.94 against spinners this season.
However, this time, Meghana neither got the room she loves to make by stepping aside nor the full-length deliveries that allow her to lift them over the in-field.
It was a perfect plan from Lanning, as she introduced Jonassen in the 18th over with her to bowl two of the remaining three overs. Moreover, she made sure to bowl her from the end where the leg side boundary was longer.
This may seem like a counterintuitive plan for a left-arm spinner going against the right-hander at the death, but Meghana, RCB’s in-form batter, could only score 5 runs off 7 balls that Jonassen bowled to her before she got eventually run out.
If you look at the pitch map of the other left-arm spinner from the game, Radha, you’ll find a stark contrast with Jonassen.
Radha leaked runs at a strike rate of 160 from the same good length area compared to 63.2 when Jonassen bowled there. Jonassen ditched the conventional left-arm spinner mode of attack, where they make the right-handed batters play against the turn. But Radha didn’t and suffered. The key difference between the two spinners was the angle of attack.
The Delhi Capitals are the lightest on spinners among all the five teams. They have Poonam Yadav, but she hasn't played high-octane cricket for the longest time. Meanwhile, Lanning chose to play Annabel Sutherland in the first two games. However, the number of right-handers in the RCB lineup might have tilted Lanning towards Jonassen.
Moreover, Jonassen has performed her best in T20Is under Lanning’s leadership. She averages just 18.85 after 76 innings and has given runs at just 5.63 runs per over. Meanwhile, under the current skipper, Alyssa Healy, she’s averaging almost 6 runs more per wicket, with her economy touching 10.
Unsurprisingly, she not only bowled brilliantly (3/21) but blasted off the wayward RCB bowlers at the end and scored 36 runs in just 16 balls at a strike rate of 225.
Come the upcoming games at the Chinnaswamy and Kotla, there are high chances that Jonassen might be backed again by the Delhi Capitals to do her thing. And why shouldn’t they?
After all, if it was Shafali Verma and Capsey who built the base for this win, it was Jonassen who climbed up the Chinnaswamy with her unconventional methods and replaced the RCB flag with a DC one.
