Captain Meg Lanning's composed 55(41) helped DC post a competitive 163/7 after being asked to bat first by the Gujarat Giants.
The in-form Jess Jonassen (3/22) and Radha Yadav (3/20) then bowled fantastic spells to restrict GG to 138/8 as DC cruised to a 25-run win.
Defending 164, DC got off to a brilliant start as they picked up three wickets inside the Powerplay. Titas Sadhu started off with a wicket maiden, and Shikha Pandey cleaned up Laura Wolvaardt with a cracking inswinger in the next over. Pandey would have had Mooney in the same over, but DC decided not to review an LBW appeal, which was turned down by the umpire. Replays showed all three reds, and Mooney would have been back to the hut had Lanning and Co. reviewed it.
Mooney and Litchfield tried to up the ante with three fours in the fourth over from Shikha Pandey. The partnership, however, couldn't last long as Jess Jonassen removed both the batters in her first over to jolt GG. The DC all-rounder, at first, trapped Mooney LBW off just her second ball of her spell and then had Litchfield caught at mid off.
GG could have had another batter back in the hut, but Radha Yadav dropped Veda Krishnamurthy off Arundhati Reddy in the next over as GG reached 41/3 at the end of the Powerplay. Yadav, though, made up for the dropped catch as she had Krishnamurthy caught at backward point. She made it two from two overs, trapping Kathryn Bryce LBW in her next over as GG lost half their side inside 11 overs.
Ashleigh Gardner then led GG's fightback with an attacking 40(31). Just as GG were gaining momentum, Lanning brought back Jonassen, and the move worked as she had Gardner stumped in the 15th over. It was a crucial wicket at an important juncture that derailed the Giants. The required rate kept climbing, and the wickets kept falling as DC restricted GG to 138/8 to win the match.
Earlier, Gujarat Giants captain Beth Mooney won the toss and elected to field.
The match got off to an eventful start as DC opener Shafali Verma hit a four and a six off Tanuja Kanwar in the first over but got lucky as Kanwar couldn't manage to hold on to a return catch off the final ball of the over.
Shafali's luck, though, didn't last long as she departed two overs later, flicking one straight to square leg, off Meghna Singh. Alice Capsey strode out and took the aggressive approach to make sure the pressure wasn't built, as she found gaps with precision, hitting four fours to take DC to 51/1 at the end of the Powerplay.
With the Capsey-Lanning partnership gaining strength, Mooney brought back wicket-taker Meghna Singh, and the move worked as she responded with the big wicket of Capsey (27 off 17), having her caught at backward point.
GG pulled things back with some disciplined bowling and didn't concede a boundary for 19 balls before Meg Lanning lofted one over long off for a six to release the pressure valve and take DC to 76/2 at the halfway mark.
That consistent pressure nearly got GG a wicket, but Lanning, who was looking to up the ante, was dropped at mid off by Bryce off Mannat Kashyap, on 30.
The DC captain then finally found some momentum as she hit a slew of fours to bring up her fifty off 39 balls. But she couldn't convert it into a big one as GG's trump card, Meghna, struck again to provide a crucial wicket, having Lanning (55 off 41) caught at point. Meghna could have had two in two, but keeper Mooney couldn't hold on to a tough chance offered by Annabel Sutherland. Kashyap, though, sent back Rodrigues in the next over to dent DC.
Sutherland took the aggressive route straightaway, but DC lost Jonassen soon, and the pressure built again.
It brought the wicket of Sutherland as she heaved one straight to deep mid-wicket off Kanwar, and then Arundhati Reddy was caught at long on, off Gardner. GG didn't concede a boundary for 24 balls before Shikha Pandey hit two in a row in the last over to provide some relief and take the score to 163/7 at the end of 20 overs. GG were brilliant in the slog overs, as they conceded just 33 runs from the last five overs and picked up four wickets. Meghna Singh was the pick of the GG bowlers, with figures of 4/37. Sayali Satghare came in as the concussion substitute in the second innings for Dayalan Hemalatha, who injured herself while taking a catch.