WPL 2024: Delhi Capitals' Meg Lanning creates history as first WPL player to score 500 runs

Meg Lanning, who led the Capitals to a runners-up finish at the WPL last year, is considered one of the greatest batters of all time. (Photo: X)

Meg Lanning, the former Australia captain who led the side to five world titles, is no stranger to firsts. On Tuesday, March 5, she added another unique feat to her name as she became the first player to make 500 career runs in the Women’s Premier League (WPL), the five-team T20 competition in India organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

The right-hand batter, who opens for and captains Delhi Capitals in the WPL, achieved the accomplishment in the high-octane fixture against defending champions Mumbai Indians at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi in what was the first WPL game to be played in the city.

Lanning’s feat formed part of her 38-ball 53, her fifth in the tournament across its two editions, also making her the first batter to accomplish five half-centuries at WPL. Her efforts with the bat helped Capitals defeat the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Mumbai by 29 runs and consolidated Capitals’ position atop the points table with four wins from five games.

India swing bowler Shikha Pandey, Lanning’s team-mate at Capitals, hailed her captain’s feat by describing her as the “Mighty Meg” on the social-media platform X (formerly Twitter). Lanning’s current tally of runs at WPL 2024 after Tuesday’s fixture stands at 201 from five innings at an average of 40.20, second only to the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Smriti Mandhana, who holds the Orange Cap at the moment for being the highest run-scorer of the season so far with a tally of 219 at an average of 43.80.

As far as WPL career runs go, star England and Mumbai allrounder Natalie Sciver-Brunt trails Lanning in the second position with 419 runs and India and Delhi opener Shafali Verma in the third with 408 runs.

Lanning, who led the Capitals to a runners-up finish at the WPL last year, is considered one of the greatest batters of all time. She retired from international cricket last October aged only 31, having Australia to four T20 World Cup titles, an ODI World Cup title and a Commonwealth Games gold medal. She is one of the most successful captains in cricket history.

Last Sunday, after Capitals victory over the Gujarat Giants, Lanning said at the post-match presser that she is still “extremely competitive” despite no longer plying her trade on the international circuit.

"There's probably less pressure and expectation [now], but I am still extremely competitive," Lanning, who made a 41-ball 55 in Capitals' win over the Giants, said on March 4. "When I go out there, I want to win and contribute as much as I can, but I just try to switch off a bit more away from the field. And then when I need to switch on, I can.

"I feel like a weight, sort of, has been lifted in a way. I can enjoy myself. I still have the competitive edge when I need to. The environment at Delhi is great, it's fun, it is really relaxed. We back each other to go and play to our strengths. It makes my job easier. I just want to go out, have some fun and have a smile on my face."