Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the defending champions, concluded their season on a high note by defeating Mumbai Indians (MI) by 11 runs on Tuesday. This victory prevented MI from directly qualifying for the Women’s Premier League (WPL) final.
As a result, Delhi Capitals (DC) topped the league table and secured a direct spot in the final, scheduled for March 15th. Mumbai Indians will now compete against Gujarat Giants in the eliminator match on March 13th. Both matches will be held at the same venue.
Delhi Capitals will now play in their third consecutive final, hoping to finally win the championship title. In the match, RCB batted first and scored a formidable 199 runs for three wickets. Skipper Smriti Mandhana led the scoring with 53 runs off 37 balls. Ellyse Perry (49 off 38 balls), Richa Ghosh (36 off 22), and Georgia Wareham (31 off 10) also made valuable contributions.
In response, Mumbai Indians were restricted to 188 runs for nine wickets. Despite finishing the league stage with the same number of wins (five) as Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians had a lower net run rate.
Sajeevan Sajana briefly raised MI’s hopes with a quickfire 23 runs off 12 balls before being dismissed by Perry.
Mumbai Indians had a poor start, losing two wickets within the first six overs and reaching 38 for two. Nat Sciver-Brunt tried to stabilize the innings, scoring 69 runs off 35 balls, but was eventually caught and bowled by Perry.
For RCB’s bowling attack, Sneh Rana was particularly effective, taking 3 wickets for 26 runs in her four overs. Georgia Wareham also bowled well, taking 1 wicket for 29 runs in 4 overs.
Kim Garth contributed with 2 wickets for 33 runs, helping RCB secure the victory.
Earlier in the match, RCB’s innings began strongly with openers Smriti Mandhana and Sabbhineni Meghana putting together 41 runs quickly. However, Meghana was dismissed for 26 runs off 13 balls while attempting an aggressive shot.
Smriti Mandhana, who had been struggling for form this season, started the RCB innings positively, hitting a four off Shabnim Ismail.
Meghana also attacked Nat Sciver-Brunt, hitting her for two boundaries in the second over.
With RCB already out of contention for the next stage of the tournament, captain Mandhana played freely, hitting Ismail for a four and a six.
Meghana continued to play aggressively, hitting Hayley Matthews for two fours and a six.
However, Matthews managed to dismiss Meghana, who was caught at short fine leg.
After a slightly slower period, RCB reached 53 for one wicket in the powerplay overs.
Amanjot Kaur bowled a tight first over, conceding only two runs. However, Amelia Kerr, the Purple Cap holder, was then attacked by Mandhana, who hit her for two sixes. 22 runs were scored in that over, and RCB reached 77 for one after eight overs.
At the other end, Amanjot continued to bowl well, and Sanskriti Gupta also bowled a good first over, conceding only four runs.
Meanwhile, Mandhana hit two more boundaries off Parunika Sisodia, reaching her half-century with the second boundary.
In the 12th over bowled by Kerr, Perry was dropped, and then Mandhana was also dropped. However, Mandhana was eventually dismissed when Ismail took a catch.
Perry, along with Ghosh and Wareham, then accelerated RCB’s scoring. Hayley Matthews was the most successful bowler for MI, taking 2 wickets for 37 runs.
