“One thing we did for sure was fight back.” Skipper Smriti Mandhana reflects on their journey in WPL 2024.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore led by skipper Smriti Mandhana stunned the defending champions Mumbai Indians in the eliminator by five runs, defending the lowest total (135/6) of the season to advance to their maiden appearance in the final.
They were all set to face Delhi Capitals in the final at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The Delhi Capitals skipper Meg Lanning won the toss and opted to bat first in the final. The opening duo of Shafali Verma and skipper Meg Lanning got them off to a flying start, scoring just over 10 runs an over in the powerplay. The strategic time-out worked wonders for RCB as skipper Smriti Mandhana introduced the left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux and she struck thrice in the 8th over of the innings to bring her side storming back into the contest.
She accounted for the wickets of Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Alice Capsey. The Delhi Capitals innings eventually folded on 113 with nine balls to spare, courtesy of a horrible collapse. They lost their remaining 9 wickets for just 49 runs. Shafali Verma (44 off 27 balls), and skipper Meg Lanning (23 off 23 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Delhi Capitals. Shreyanka Patil (3.3-0-12-4), Sophie Molineux (4-0-20-3), and Asha Sobhana (3-0-14-2) were the top performers with the ball for RCB.
Chasing a target of 114, RCB eventually got over the line with 8 wickets in hand and three balls to spare to end their 17-year-old wait for a trophy in franchise cricket, by clinching the 2nd edition of the Women’s Premier League. Royal Challengers Bangalore’s top-order chipped in with handy contributions Ellyse Perry (35 off 37 balls), Sophie Devine (32 off 27 balls), and skipper Smriti Mandhana (31 off 39 balls) were the top performers with the bat for RCB.
“the first thought for me was wow, the fans of RCB as a franchise are going to be really happy. The management, I think they’re all in tears. So yeah, I was really happy to see them and the whole group, I think, you know, we’ve been through a lot this tournament, from a time where we don’t know if we make the eliminator, then the crazy eliminator and then the final. So I think, the whole group just stuck at it. One thing we did for sure was fight back. even today. I think we fought back really well. So I think maybe it’s hard for me to individually express, but, the only thing was a lot of gratitude for the fans and the franchise as a whole and the whole group.” The RCB skipper Smriti Mandhana speaks about the journey and the emotions after they clinched their maiden WPL title.
The Delhi Capitals skipper Meg Lanning yet again ended up on the losing side and another heart-breaking moment for the players as well as the fans as they ended the season as the runners-up of the 2nd edition of the WPL. Their campaign ended up in a similar way as the inaugural edition of the WPL, when Mumbai Indians led by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur were crowned as the Inaugural champions.
“She’s been absolutely unbelievable again all tournament. Just talking about where we are in the game, how we’re going to get the players back up and obviously fight and they fought magnificently. I’m so proud of her. I thought we bowled and fielded magnificently and a lot of that is down to her leadership as well, and outstanding captaincy and to take that game to losing with only three balls to go was absolutely amazing.” Delhi Capitals head coach Jonathan Batty heaps praise on skipper Meg Lanning for taking the game to the last over, defending a low total.
(Information sourced from Jio Cinema)