RCB has claimed their first victory in the WPL title! With an 8-wicket victory, they have emerged as the true champions of this race.
Delhi had crumbled from a 64-0 to 87-7 and was bowled out for 113 in the 19th over, with Shreyanka Patil taking 4-12 an embarrassing hit for the team.
RCB had slightly hoped in their chase of 114 but Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry’s unbeaten 35 helped them reach their target with three balls only.
Delhi has lost both finals of the first two WPL tournaments, another embarrassing defeat for the cricket team.
The Delhi Capitals, led by former Australia captain Meg Lanning, also finished top of last year’s table, before being beaten by Mumbai Indians in the inaugural showpiece showcasing a constant themes of increased expectations and decreasing output quality.
RCB, who beat Mumbai in Friday’s elimination game, have secured first place for the WPL franchise, with the men’s team yet to win the Indian Premier League, having finished runners-up three times, fans are even more excited as their hopes just increased 4 fold.
RCB put Delhi in a spin
Delhi made an interesting start that was different from what happened in the end. After winning the toss at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Shafali Verma struck three majestic sixes as they reached 61-0 off the powerplay, a huge accomplishment for DC.
But Australian Sophie Molineux turned the game by taking three wickets in four balls in the eighth over, this is when DC started to lose and RCB fans were beaming with hope of victory.
Verma holed out to deep mid-wicket for 44 off 27 balls, Jemimah Rodrigues swiped way too early and bowled two balls later and English all-rounder player Alice Capsey also fell for a trickto the next delivery as she missed.
RCB’s other spinners prevented any rebuild. Off-spinner Patil trapped Lanning lbw very cleverly cutting off vital lifeline players to the team, leg-spinner Asha Sobhana had also claimed to have gotten two wickets in three balls
Radha Yadav was run out by Molineux’s direct hit to deepen Delhi’s fans sadness before Patil struck twice in two deliveries to end the innings, RCB’s spinners taking nine of the 10 wickets to fall down.
Delhi’s spinners failed to have the same impact, with RCB also able to see off their seam attack with relative ease as well.
RCB was stalled after Smriti Mandhana was caught off by Mani, and still needed five from the final over, but Richa Ghosh came in like a saviour and smashed a drive over extra cover for four to seal victory.
Player’s statements
RCB all-rounder Ellyse Perry said, “It’s pretty bonkers, this is just another level for us and for women’s cricket. The support all the teams have had all tournament has been phenomenal.”
Delhi Capitals captain Meg Lanning said, “We’re obviously disappointed. We played some good cricket in the tournament but RCB outplayed us here.”
RCB spinner Shreyanka Patil responded, “We worked really hard, we had a camp before the season and it was amazing for us to get to know each other well and we knew what to do on the field.”
Player of the match, RCB all-rounder Sophie Molineux stated – “This win is really special, it’s an incredible competition and it’s just going to go from strength to strength.”
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