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Jess Jonassen has shone in her first appearance of the season in the WPL, the Australian allrounder starring with the bat, the ball and in the field.
Jess Jonassen reckoned she was just glad to be back on the field again after being left out of Delhi Capitals' first two matches in this season's Women's Premier League.
But in the ultra-competitive Indian arena, the dependable Australian allrounder demonstrated why she could soon be undroppable after she starred with bat, ball and in the field for Meg Lanning's side in the 25-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday.
First, Jonassen's blistering unbeaten 36 off just 16 balls - a strike rate of 225 - including a couple of big sixes at the end of Delhi's innings, did much to propel the Capitals to their formidable total of 5-194.
Then as the Challengers strove hard to pull off a record WPL chase in front of their own fans in Bengaluru, with captain Smriti Mandhana leading the way with a brilliant 43-ball 74, Jonassen was safe as houses under two key catches in the deep to get rid of Sophie Devine and Richa Ghosh.
Asked to bowl the key death overs, she finished the job for Lanning by taking three wickets in just the first four balls of the final over, starting with the scalp of her Australia teammate Sophie Molineux, to end with striking figures of 3-21 off her four overs.
Her decisive contribution meant Bangalore, who were without the poorly Ellyse Perry, finished on 9-169 in their chase, with the dropped Annabel Sutherland doing her bit as a substitute fielder, taking two catches in the deep in Jonassen's three-wicket over.
Captain Lanning, happy to celebrate her side going to the top of the table with their second win of the tournament, has such riches at her disposal that she admitted it was a tough call to bring in Jonassen at all.
"JJ (Jonassen) came in and was excellent. Under pressure, she showed she can hold her nerve, it was nice to see her do well," said the former Australia captain, the WPL's all-time leading scorer who had earlier had a rare failure with the bat, making just 11.
"To be honest, I was just happy to be back on the field," said 31-year-old Queenslander Jonassen, who still didn't land the player-of-the-match award.
That accolade went to South African Marizanne Kapp, who shared a big-hitting partnership of 48 with Jonassen and then grabbed the crucial wicket of Mandhana in her 2-35.
"We have got a great variety of players who can step up and do a job on any given night against any opposition."
