WPL 2024, RCB vs DC: Mandhana-led Banglore clinch their maiden title

Smriti-led RCB beat DC by 8 wickets in last-over thriller to lift their first WPL title; Bangalore spinners Sophie Molineux, Shreyanka Patil and Asha Sobhana claim nine among themselves as hosts Delhi collapse from 64-0 to 113 all out at Kotla

A clinical Royal Challengers Bangalore clinched the Women’s Premier League 2024 title with an eight-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals in the final here 
on Sunday.

Batting first, DC were bowled out for 113 in 18.3 overs. RCB chased down the target of 114 with three balls to spare, much to the disappointment of the weekend crowd that turned out to support the home team.

Fine start for DC

Earlier, DC were cruising at 64 for no loss in 43 balls before they committed harakiri, losing 10 wickets for just 49 runs in front of a 29,717 capacity crowd, who looked divided in their loyalties.

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Australia’s left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux (3-20) started DC’s downfall, picking up three wickets in the eighth over.

Thereafter, the hosts never really recovered, losing wickets at regular intervals, courtesy some loose shots and off-spinner Shreyanka Patil’s (4-12) exploits in the middle and late overs hastened their end.

Opting to bat, DC skipper Meg Lanning (23 off 23) and Shafali Verma (44 off 27) looked in a different world as they upped the tempo in a linear fashion.

Lanning, the second highest run-getter in the tournament, played the second fiddle as Shafali went hammer and tongs after a slow start in the first 11 balls.

Shafali was particularly destructive straight down the ground as she slammed her first three sixes in that region. She opened up her arms in the final delivery of the second over when she went down on her knee to dispatch Molineux over long on for the first six of the innings.

The right-arm fast bowler Renuka Singh was taken to task in the fourth over, which yielded 19 runs.

Shafali started the onslaught clobbering the bowler over her head for a six, which eventually inspired Lanning.

Lanning then struck two boundaries off the last two deliveries of the same over to match her partner. Ellyse Perry also bore the brunt of Shafali’s wrath as she was hit over for a maximum and then a boundary as DC reached 52 in five overs. The DC openers continued their attack and hit Sophie Devine for a boundary each in the next over. But RCB managed to put brakes when Molineux scalped three wickets in the eighth over—Shafali, Jemmimah Rodrigues and Alice Capsey.

DC’s wickets tumble 

After reaching 72 for 3 at the halfway mark, DC’s mainstay Lanning, who was trying to resurrect the innings, departed, trapped leg before Shreyanka, but not after she wasted a review. Thereafter, the home team kept losing wickets in search of unnecessary big shots to stumble to 81 for six. It was mayhem for DC as they lost seven wickets for mere 23 runs in that period.

13
No. of wickets claimed by RCB’s Shreyanka Patil in eight matches to win the Purple Cap

347
No. of runs scored by RCB’s Ellyse Perry in nine games to grab the Orange Cap

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