Smriti Mandhana, the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore, was optimistic during the Monday toss. In the first half of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) league stage, her team had lost all four of its games, but all of those losses had occurred at the Brabourne Stadium. At the DY Patil Stadium, they were facing the Delhi Capitals this time, and Mandhana hoped the change in scenery would also change things for them.
Unfortunately, RCB went on to lose their fifth game in a row in a thrilling last-over contest. After being asked to bat first, Mandhana and company finished with 150/4, and DC scored 154/4 in 19.4 overs to maintain their lead over Mumbai Indians at the top of the standings.
Megan Schutt’s second delivery of the innings rattled Shafali Verma’s stumps, giving RCB an ideal start with the bat. Shafali, who had just scored an astounding 76* off 28 in the previous match against the Gujarat Giants, missed Schutt’s big inswinger and was dismissed for a first-ball duck.
Then, with a 24-ball 38, Alice Capsey launched a counterattack but was caught by left-arm spinner Preeti Bose. Meg Lanning, the captain of Delhi and holder of the Orange Cap, wasn’t at her best and died for 15 off 18.
With 32 off 28 balls, Jemimah Rodrigues, batting at No. 4, played a crucial knock for DC. The right-hander and Lanning added 25 runs for the third wicket, and Kapp and the right-hander added 39 runs for the fourth wicket.
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Both teams were still in it when Rodrigues was bowled in the 15th over because DC needed 42 to win off 33 balls. As Jess Jonassen joined Kapp in the crease, the game grew increasingly tense. First, 24 out of 18, then 16 out of 12, and finally 9 out of the final 6.
The final over was supposed to be bowled by Renuka Singh Thakur, and she got off to a good start. However, Jonassen displayed great skill and composure to clinch the victory and break the hearts of the RCB with a six and a four.
Bangalore’s previous batting performance was a tale of two halves, scoring 50 runs in the first 10 overs and 100 in the following 10.
Mandhana, whose first four games’ scores were 35, 23, 18 and 4, had another lacklustre batting performance. She was first up against a maiden over by Marizanne Kapp before being eliminated for 8 off 15. The recent low score wouldn’t have helped the left-confidence hander’s because she had previously stated that she needed to be shouldering more responsibility at the top of the order.
Richa Ghosh and Ellyse Perry each contributed differently to RCB’s respectable total. In her first 19 deliveries, Perry, who had scored 50 runs against the UP Warriorz in the previous match, faced 14 dots. Despite being far from fluent, the star Australian all-rounder persevered to keep the RCB innings together. She was unbeaten at 67 off 52 after making 30 runs off the final 11 balls she faced after being on 37 off 41 at one point.
Ghosh, in contrast, was accurate right away. She had only managed to score 41 runs in her four prior games, but this time, she hit form, scoring 37 runs off just 16 balls. The keeper-knock batter’s featured three fours and as many sixes as three, giving RCB the much-needed boost.
Shikha Pandey was DC’s best ball handler in terms of performance. Mandhana, Sophie Devine, and Ghosh were crucial victims for the right-arm pacer, who finished with a final score of 3/23. The 33-year-old also pulled off a brilliant short-fine to dismiss Heather Knight.
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