RCB-W crowned as the champions of WPL 2024

From riding on the edge of lightning in the group stages that saw RCB-W making it to the Eliminator with a victory in the last game to smashing the reigning champions Mumbai Indians on a trot and then vanquishing the most formidable force of the tournament Delhi Capitals emphatically, Smriti Mandhana and company scripted history at the Arun Jaitley Stadium as they emerged as the WPL 2024 champions.

Winning the toss, Delhi opted to bat first. Keeping the reckoning bowling unit of the Capitals in mind, RCB went for an extra batter as they fielded Sabbhineni Meghana in the playing XI instead of Shraddha Pokharkar. The DC openers went off to an absolute flyer as Shafali Verma led the charge.

Verma (44) and Meg Lanning (23) added 64 runs for the opening stand, scoring close to 9 runs an over. It was the introduction of Sophie Molineux that completely shifted the dynamics of the game. A tossed up delivery in the channel was taken on by Shafali but all she could manage to find was Georgia Wareham on the fence.

A couple of balls later RCB made further inroads into the Delhi batting unit as an in-form Jemimah Rodrigues lost her shape while trying to sweep Molineux and eventually saw the ball crashing onto her stumps. A seasoned Alice Capsey joined the cavalcade of woes for Delhi as her attempted scoop went horribly wrong and the ball crashed into the stumps.

Lanning joined forces with Marizanne Kapp with the hope of trying to arrest the vertiginous decline. But then Delhi was caught in the midst of a brewing tornado that saw them all at sea while the RCB spinners took turns tormenting them further.

Shreyanka Patil, who was fighting through a hairline fracture, risking it all, joined the party soon after. Going up against the experienced Meg Lanning, she banged one shorter outside the off-stump and the ball nipped back in sharply to catch the Delhi skipper stranded in front of the middle and the leg-stump.

Next up in RCB-W’s long line of magical turners was their leading wicket-taker until the Eliminator, Asha Sobhana. Playing against the turn, Kapp wanted to take on the longest boundary. However, as luck would have it, on a day where it all goes downtown, even the easiest of pickings turn into ghastly fumbles. Kapp (8) miscued enterprise shot miles up in the air and Sophie Devine pounced on the opportunity.

Jess Jonassen (3) couldn’t help Delhi’s cause either as Sobhana’s flighted delivery on the off-stump tempted the former and her wild swing only assisted her in getting a skyer which was comfortably pouched by Smriti Mandhana after a bit of mix-up.

Wobbling at 81/6, Delhi went further down the rabbit hole as Patil struck again, skidding one on the leg-pole against Minnu Mani (5). Trying to sweep Patil, all Minnu could find was air on her bat and the ball breezing past her sight into the stumps.

The fall of Mani was succeeded by somewhat of a stuttering stand between Radha Yadav and Arundhati Reddy as the duo piled up 14 runs for the eighth wicket. Just when it felt like that Delhi could score 130, pinning their hopes on this fighting stand, Sophie Molineux came to the party again, firing back a chop at the stumps at the non-striker’s end, leaving Yadav horribly short of the crease after another mix-up.

Reddy fell shortly as Shreyanka Patil managed to sneak one through her defences, with the ball cutting back in and taking a sharp deflection off her pads before rattling the stumps. Taniya Bhatia was the last one to fall as a faint tickle down the leg-side was pouched by Richa Ghosh and it was all over for the Capitals.

Chasing 114, RCB-W was off to a silent start with Mandhana and Devine being watchful early on. However, the shackles came off in no time as the White Fern chose violence and started going all guns blazing after the Delhi bowlers. Adding 49 runs for the opening stand, Devine was on her way back to the pavilion for a 27-ball-32 while Mandhana carried on with an in-form Ellyse Perry.

Smriti and Pez added another 33 runs for the second wicket before Delhi could finally get the better of the RCB skipper for another well-orchestrated 31. With Richa Ghosh coming up, RCB-W knew that they had to get the job done and it happened without a fuss.

Ghosh had a slightly shaky start with a couple of uncontrolled shots flying off her bat but soon after she was right back in her signature groove, controlling the proceedings alongside Pez as the RCB juggernaut started rolling again. With 3 needed off 4, it was Ghosh struck the coup de grace, redeeming herself for missing out on the last occasion when RCB-W fell agonizingly short of the finish line. RCB-W clinched the crown of the tournament with eight wickets to spare. Sophie Molineux won the Player of the Match for her impactful spell up front while Shafali Verma was awarded the Player of the Series.