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.New Delhi, Mar 18: 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.
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.