WPL final: All-round RCB led by Perry, Molineux, Shreyanka capture maiden title, beat DC by 8 wickets

NEW DELHI: An all-round Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) led by yet another solid knock by Ellyse Perry and brilliant bowling spells from spinners Shreyanka Patil and Sophie Molineux captured their first-ever Women’s Premier League (WPL) title after defeating Delhi Capitals by eight wickets in the title clash at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday.

This is RCB’s first-ever T20 title across both WPL and the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Chasing 114, RCB started off cautiously, getting just 18 runs in their first four overs. Openers Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine did not take much risks, except for two boundaries by the New Zealand batter.

The Red and Gold side had a decent powerplay. At the end of six overs, RCB was 25/0, with Smriti (12*) and Sophie (13*) unbeaten.

No we’re not crying, you are pic.twitter.com/Nb9TKf5NFw

— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) March 17, 2024

Devine let her arms loose in the seventh over, smashing Radha Yadav for three fours and a six. She got 18 runs from that over and that took RCB to 43/0 in seven overs.

With a couple by Devine, RCB reached the 50-run mark in eight overs.

Shikha Pandey ended the threatening stand between Mandhana and Sophie, trapping the latter leg-before-wicket for 32 in 27 balls, with five fours and a six. RCB was 49/1 in 8.1 overs.

RCB’s superstar all-rounder Ellyse Perry was next up on the crease and brought up RCB’s 50-run mark in 8.2 overs.  Halfway through the innings, RCB was 56/1, with Perry (3*) and Smriti (21*) unbeaten.

For next few overs, DC managed to keep the RCB batters shut and the run rate low. A boundary each by Mandhana and Perry in the 13th over by Arundhati Yadav eased off some pressure, taking the score to 72/1 in 13 overs.

The budding partnership was finally broken by Minnu Mani, who got the wicket of skipper Smriti for 31 in 39 balls, with three fours. The left-handed batter’s mistimed shot got into the hands of Arundhati Reddy at mid-on. RCB was 82/2 in 15 overs, needing 31 in the final five overs.

An economical 16th over by Alice Capsey brought down the equation to 27 in final four overs.

In the next over by Mini, RCB gathered nine runs, including a four by Richa Ghosh, leaving the team with 18 runs to get in three overs.

The next over by Jonassen also produced a boundary by Perry, leaving RCB with 11 to get in two overs.

RCB’s equation came down to five runs in the final over. Richa hit the winning shot, finishing RCB’s innings at 115/2 in 19.3 overs, with Richa (17*) and Perry (35*) unbeaten.

Minnu and Shikha took a wicket each.

Earlier, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) spinners, particularly Sophie Molineux and Shreyanka Patil helped the side overcome a solid start by Delhi Capitals openers Meg Lanning and Shefali Verma and bundled out the hosts for 113 after the completion of the first innings in the final of Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

After winning the toss, DC batters Lanning and Shefali came out to the crease. Both batters started their innings with an aggressive approach as they put on a 50-run partnership inside five overs.

Shefali was sent back to the pavilion in the eighth over after playing a blistering knock of 44 runs in 27 balls which was laced with two fours and three sixes.

In the same over Sophie Molineux dismissed the two in-form batters Jemimah Rodrigues and Alice Capsey were sent back to the dressing room without opening their account. DC were 64/3 after eight overs despite getting an outstanding start from the opening batters.

Lanning got dismissed when the team score was 74 after scoring 23 runs with the help of three boundaries.

Inside seven runs, the DC franchise lost two more wickets as first Marizanne Kapp got dismissed after scoring just eight runs when the team score was 80 and then at 81 DC lost the wicket of Jess Jonassen who was able to score just three runs.

Right-hand batters Radha Yadav (12) and Arundhati Reddy (10) played small knocks but that were not enough for the side. DC managed to cross the 100-run mark in 15.5 overs.

But the hosts could not play their full quota of 20 overs and were bundled out for 113 runs in 18.3 overs.

The highest wicket-taker for RCB was Shreyanka who snapped four wickets in her spell of 3.3 overs where she conceded just 12 runs. Three wickets were grabbed by Molineux in her spell of four overs where she conceded 20 runs. Two wickets were grabbed by young leg-spinner Asha Sobhana in her spell of three overs where she conceded 14 runs.

Brief Score: Delhi Capitals 113 all out (Shefali Verma 44, Meg Lanning 23, Shreyanka Patil 4/12) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore. (ANI)