“I promised Jemi” - Jess Jonassen opens up on her dancing celebration after claiming Alyssa Healy’s wicket

Delhi Capitals (DC) all-rounder Jess Jonassen has revealed that she had promised Jemimah Rodrigues she would do a dance if she claimed a wicket in the WPL 2023 match against UP Warriorz on Tuesday, March 7.

Jonassen was the Player of the Match as DC beat UPW by 42 runs at the DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai. The 30-year-old struck an unbeaten 42 off 20 balls and then claimed 3/43 with her left-arm spin.

During her batting stint, she featured in an entertaining 67-run unbroken stand for the fifth wicket with Rodrigues (34* off 22). At a post-match press conference, Jonassen praised her batting partner and also opened up about accepting a challenge from the Indian batter.

“Jemi is a ball of energy," she said. "She is so enthusiastic and so supportive. She’s a really good person to have at the other end out there. She kept me grounded and kept me focused on what I do best."

“We were speaking in the dugout at the start of the game," she added. "There was a lot of music going on and I was sitting next to Radha Yadav and she was having a bit of a dance and I was trying to join in. I promised Jemi. She said, ‘if you get a wicket you have do certain moves’.”

Jonassen’ first wicket was that of her Aussie teammate Alyssa Healy (24), who was caught while attempting a big hit. (Click here to watch the video of the wicket.)

On that dismissal, the left-arm spinner stated:

“When I got that first one, I made sure I turned around and did that for her and the same with the second one. All a bit of fun and really enjoyed it.”

.@JJonassen21 has three! 👏🏻👏🏻

Devika Vaidya is caught in the deep and #UPW require 92 off 18 now.

Follow the game 👉 bit.ly/3mzN2gf

#TATAWPL | #DCvUPW https://t.co/fF5JpIoArs

After dismissing Healy, Jonassen also got the scalps of Kiran Navgire (2) and Devika Vaidya (23). Chasing a target of 212, UPW were held to 169/5.

“Meg is an exceptional leader” - Jess Jonassen

During the interaction, Jonassen also described Meg Lanning as an exceptional leader. Jonassen knows more than a thing or two about Lanning, who also captains the Australian women’s cricket team.

Acknowledging that she was pleased to have her national captain as the leader of her franchise as well, the bowling all-rounder said:

“Meg is an exceptional leader. I am really excited to be part of the same team that she is over here. She just has this calmness about her and she’s able to project that onto every other personnel out there on the field. Doesn’t matter what the situation of the game is, she always seems to have a plan or have an option or a thought about something.

“I’ve really enjoyed having her as the captain of this team. It’s actually nice to bounce some ideas off her a little bit. It’s really frantic out there at times. The crowd’s quite loud. So to be able to have a few of the senior players help out at any given time, I think she finds that quite beneficial as well.”

An entertaining 42*(20) with the bat and a 3️⃣-wicket haul with the ball 👌🏻👌🏻

@JJonassen21 receives the Player of the Match award for her incredible all-round performance 👏👏

Scorecard 👉 bit.ly/3mzN2gf

#TATAWPL | #DCvUPW https://t.co/00ih6D7jMn

Lanning is the current holder of the Orange Cap in WPL 2023, having slammed 142 runs in two matches at a strike rate of 167.05.