WPL 2024 final: RCB clinch maiden title with eight-wicket win over DC

New Delhi: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) lifted the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 title as they comfortably beat Delhi Capitals (DC) by eight wickets in the blockbuster final clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Sunday. This is RCB’s maiden title of the WPL as they become the new defending champions with the second edition of the league coming to an end.

Chasing down a below-par target of 114 runs, Smriti Mandhana & co. through their clinical batting ousted the home side posting 115/2 after 19.3 overs. For a batting lineup like that of RCB, a target like that is probably a mockery. Meg Lanning’s bowlers looked no way into the game with their wayward line and length which the RCB batters used to their favor. DC failed to defend the below-par score leaking runs continuously while trying to get a wicket.

Openers Mandhana and Sophie Devine contributed 49 runs for the first wicket as Devine (32 off 27; 5 fours and a six) was caught on the pads by Shikha Pandey in the ninth over. Veteran Ellyse Perry (35* off 37; 4 fours) came as the new batter and partnered with Mandhana for 33 runs until the skipper departed on 31 facing 39 deliveries, hitting three fours. She was caught by Arundhati Reddy off Minnu Mani’s delivery in the 15th over with RCB at 82/2.

The Smriti Mandhana-led Royal Challengers Bangalore reign supreme! 🏆

Presenting before you – Champions of the #TATAWPL 2024 ! 🙌 🙌

Congratulations, #RCB! 👏 👏#DCvRCB | #Final | @RCBTweets | @mandhana_smriti pic.twitter.com/mYbX9qWrUt

— Women’s Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 17, 2024

The Reactions 👏

The Emotions ☺️

The Celebrations 🙌

They say what this triumph means for the Royal Challengers Bangalore 🏆

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/g011cfzcFp#TATAWPL | #DCvRCB | #Final | @RCBTweets pic.twitter.com/imJPUlpIPD

— Women’s Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 17, 2024

With Perry continuing to bat, she maintained the run rate somewhere around 6 along with Richa Ghosh (17* off 14; 2 fours). Arundhati Reddy was handed the last over with a tough responsibility to defend five runs. Although both batters took the game to the last over but executed their planning properly with Ghosh hitting the winning runs.

RCB decimate DC batting lineup

Earlier, DC were off to a flying start as both the openers stitched a 64-run stand for the first wicket and it pretty much seemed that the home side was all set for a 150+ target, to say the least. Shafali Verma, who was batting on 44 (off 27; 2 fours and three sixes), was removed by Sophie Molineux in the eighth over as RCB got their first breakthrough. She holed out to Georgia Wareham at the deep midwicket and missed on her half-century.

RCB wouldn’t have expected what happened next as Molineux removed the next two batters as well. She got Verma off the first delivery of her second over and sent the next two back off the third and fourth delivery of the same over. She picked Jemimah Rodrigues (0 off 2) next hitting her off stump and cleaned up Alice Capsey (0 off 1) in the very next delivery, hitting her leg timber.

The left-hand orthodox running through the DC top order brought in the flow for RCB as other spinners Shreyanka Patil and Asha Sobhana joined the wicket-taking party as well. Patil grabbed the wicket of skipper Lanning (23 off 23; 3 fours) and Sobhana bagged two in the follow up – Marizanne Kapp (8 off 16) and Jess Jonassen (3 off 11), both caught out.

DC stumbled to 81/6 who were once 64/0 and the misery continued as Patil struck her second, getting Minnu Mani (5 off 3) on the pads just as Lanning. Radha Yadav (12 off 9) hit two fours to cheer up the Delhi supporters but very soon found herself short of the crease as Molineux ran her out, continuing her dominance.

The home side couldn’t even play complete 20 overs as Patil removed the last two batters (Arundhati Reddy and Taniya Bhatia) in succession in the 19th over itself, bundling out Delhi at 113/10 in 18.3 overs. The 21-year-old was the most economical of all as she bowled 3.3 overs and conceded just 12 runs. She bagged the purple cap as her wicket tally rose to 13 with this four-wicket haul.