MIW vs RCBW WPL Eliminator Highlights: Royal Challengers Bangalore cruise into final in low-scoring thriller

What a match. Still this feeling has not sunk in. At the halfway mark, we felt we were 20 runs short. But the way we bowled and fielded was amazing. 130 is a total where you are not sure whether to attack or defend, but the last over from Asha was unreal. [turning point?] Definitely Harman's wicket. That over from Shreyanka and even the 19th over from Sophie because even Sajana is a good hitter, that 19th made a lot of difference. [on Perry] What do I say of her now! She is a legend, the way she kept her nerves with 3 wickets down. Even when she came back in, she told us we are in it, keep our nerves. Feels unreal. After the last match we thought we were playing good cricket, winning the toss was great, but at 30/3 I was like, what have I done! 130-odd and cricket is a funny game and that's what taught me to keep going. I'm really happy that RCB is in the final. One more day of good training and come back the day after.

We are ecstatic to get an opportunity to be in the final. To defend a low total like that is awesome. The girls kept calm and pretty awesome performance from the spinners at the end. You gotta take the opportunity when it comes. Nice for me the last couple of games, it has fallen my way. The way we stayed calm against such a good side is exceptional. The way the girls have come together after last season and we have really enjoyed each other's company on the field and off it. Overall we hung in there, the girls kept contributing, the old adage of runs on the board in a big game holds true I suppose and it did tonight. Can't wait [for the final

We bowled really well, we restricted them to under 140. batting was also good but the last 12 balls we did not bat well. In 12 balls, we needed just one boundary, we could not be able to get that. This game always teaches you and puts you under pressure, you need to learn from it. When we lost my wicket, our batters could not hold their nerve, that was the turning point. We saw SS (Sajana) this tournament, she can hit really hard and that's what this WPL can do, to bring up young players. We fought really hard, this season has been up and down for us, last season we did really well but we learnt a lot and hopefully next season we will prepare well and come back hard. 

RCB are all in joy. What a win for them. Mandhana is in tears. MI players heartbroken but what a display of cricket this has been.

And RCB have won this. What match this was!! What a brilliant low-scoring thriller we had in front of us. Shobana does it again. She defends 12 runs infront of Kerr, Vastrakar and Amanjot. She signals stay calm, I have got this. RCB win by 5 runs and they are into the final after reaching the playoffs for the first time. It was a brilliant bowling display despite being in pressure and not to forget the contribution of Perry with the bat that saw them to 135. So RCB have earned the ticket to the final against Delhi Capitals on Sunday.

RCB have brought Asha Shobana for the final over. She was the star with the ball in RCB's narrow 2-run win, can she do it again? 12 needed off 6 balls

Final over update:

Ball 1: 1 run

Ball 2: 1 run

Ball 3: 2 runs

Ball 4: Vastrakar stumped out!! MI still need 8 from 2 balls

Ball 5: 1 run. 7 needed off 1 ball. Kerr on strike, a six for the Super over or its RCB going through

Ball 6: 1 run. RCB win, they are into the final

We are going into the final over guys. RCB have taken it there. 

Is there a twist in the tale. Shreyanka gets Kaur on the final ball of the over and RCB are pumped up. Kaur wanted to go downtown on this, but could not clear the long-on and a brilliantly composed take fom Devine at the fence.

Amelia got a crucial four off the final ball of the previous over and it brings it down to 20 needed off 18. Shreyanka to bowl the 18th over and ohh no, Richa misses the a stumping chance on the first ball.

Mumbai Indians are in a comfortable position going into the last five overs with seven wickets in hand. Mumbai Indians in 43 runs in 5 overs to win. MI - 93/3 in 15 overs.

Wareham has bowled nat-Sciver Brunt and RCB feel they are right back in it. 68/3 after 10.4 overs.

Perry cleans up Yastika with a delivery angling into the left-hander. Harman survives the next over on a run-out. Her bat was in the air after making the ground when the stumps broke. But as per new rules, it was not out.

The powerplay is done with MI at 37/1 after the first 6 overs. Molinuex bowled a tight 6th over of six runs with Yastika getting a four. This game is looking well poised at the moment but MI might fell ahead with the batting they have. Leg-spinner Wareham is now in

And Bangalore strike finally. Shreyanka gets Matthews out at deep mid-wicket but it was a well composed catch from Wareham.MI 27/1 after 4 and Nat-Sciver has come to the crease now. 

Mumbai are reaping full rewards of the powerplay. It's a good start for them and certainly not what RCB would have wanted. 

The two Mumbai openers - Hayley Matthews and Yastika Bhatia are in the middle. Renuka with the ball in hand. A review on the first ball itself as RCB were desperate of a possible edge. But there was none. Review gone first ball

A six from Wareham on the final ball and RCB finish on 135/6 from their 20 overs. Perry's 66 and Wareham's 18 have brought them this far. They were in trouble early and lost three quick wickets. Perry and Richa tried bringing in stability but the latter fell for 14. Perry kept going and found some support from Molineux and Wareham but it was her 66 that have been the major story of this innings. Will 135 be enough? We will find that out soon.

Perry and Molineux are in the top gear now. 9 runs from the previous over. A couple of good efforts on the field from Nat-Sciver got it to 9 otherwise could have been more. Ishaque to bowl the final one.

RCB go past 100 and Perry has got to her 50 as well. The Aussie veteran is keeping her team into the game. Back-to-back fours off Ismail and she gets to her fifty too in the same over. RCB 102/5 after 17. Can they get to 140?

Nat-Sciver cleans up Molineux and RCB have gone 5 down now. She redeems herself after a four with this slower delivery that was on the stumps. Molineux looked to make room and guide it on the off-side but it was not there. A run-a-ball 35-run partnership comes to an end. RCB 84/5 after 15 overs.

RCB are at 68/4 after 13 overs. RCB will be banking on the veteran Perry to come good today with the bat. She is the key currently and is unbeaten on 25.

Ghosh falls now and RCB lose their 4th. Ghosh tried going big but could not reach to the pitch of this ball. Holes it straight to Nat-Sciver at long-on. She does not miss it and MI have got the 4th

RCB are trying to build the things again. After 8 overs, they are at 47/3 with Richa now looking more confident and Perry in the middle.

It's a maiden over for Ismail right after the powerplay. The first maiden of the day. Ghosh tried to pierce the gap on some occasions but could not clear them. 

RCB are three down now. Saika Ishaque comes and strikes in her first over. Disha Kasat is the latest victim as the pressure of the dot balls got over her. She advanced down the track to clear the covers but hands it to cover point.

Both the openers fall in quick succession. Matthews gets Sophie Devine first in the second over as she cleaned her up. Now Nat-Sciver comes in for the third over and gets the RCB captain. She came down the track and looked to clear the infield over extra covers but slices it to deep cover, where Ismail takes an easy catch.RCB 20/2 in 2.2 overs

Devine survives and how. She got an inside edge and the ball ricocheted to the base of the stumps, touching it but the bails did not come out. Ismail can't quite believe it, Harman has a smile on her face as this runs to the fence.

We have a change in the opening. Sophie Devine is back to open once again along with Mandhana. Shabnim Ismail to start for MI from over the wicket with a very wide slip. Four!! to start with. This was a back-of-a-length ball on the body. Mandhana went on the back-foot and swivels to pull this to the fence.

I am very proud and happy to be part of the Mumbai Indians family. This is my first season and I am enjoying the entire session with MI, they are always keeping me cool and calm, that's helping my performance. I am enjoying the responsibility, I am trying to do my best, be it fielding, bowling and batting. This season I am showing who I am. (Approach for today's match) Just be the best version of myself and express what I can do.

"We've switched to the Pitch 3 here in Delhi. It's the highest scoring wicket that we have seen so far since we've been here this season. It's partly down to the surface but also the boundary dimensions. It's 46 metres and 63 metres square and down the ground - 64 metres. We've seen players finding enough to clear the boundary easily. In Delhi, we've seen a lot lower bounce. A 12 cm difference (between Delhi and Bengaluru) and that's really down to the fact that there's been bare patches. That has brought different modes of dismissals - bowled and lbw. Over 54% of dismissals have been bowled and lbws. The bowlers have brought the stumps into play and challenged the batters. This wicket will have a little bit of extra bounce compared to what we have seen. The pace bowlers will be trying to hit the good length and bring the stumps into play. The lines have to be tighter as there's such a short boundary," WV Raman says in his pitch report.

We were very confused, we were looking to bat first as well. Yastika is back today for Bala. Last time when we batted first, we had a nice powerplay. We didn't continue after that. We have learnt a lot. Even the bowling was good in patches. Today is a new day, hopefully we do whatever we are expecting to do. Staying in the moment is very important. Today's game is important and we want to give our 100%.

We would like to bat first today. It's an Eliminator, runs on board definitely count. Three matches have been played on this wicket, it'll start keeping low hopefully in the second innings. We are unchanged today. Throughout the tournament, a lot of ups and downs. It's important to be in the present, that's how cricket is. We'll take a lot of positives from the last match but it's important today to come out and play good cricket, we are prepared well.

MI have made one change. Yastika is in for Priyanka Bala

Hayley Matthews, Yastika Bhatia(w), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Amelia Kerr, Amanjot Kaur, Pooja Vastrakar, S Sajana, Humaira Kazi, Shabnim Ismail, Saika Ishaque

No changes for RCB

Smriti Mandhana (c), Sophie Molineux, Ellyse Perry, Sophie Devine, Richa Ghosh (wk), Georgia Wareham, Disha Kasat, Shreyanka Patil. Sobhana Asha, Shradda Pokharkar, Renuka Singh

RCB have won the toss and have opted to bat first. Mandhana says having runs on the board in knockouts counts. No changes for RCB as they go with the same side that defeated Mumbai a few days ago. Meanwhile, MI have made one change with Yastika Bhatia coming in for Priyanka Bala.

MI leading run-scorers:

1. Harmanpreet Kaur - 235 runs in 6 innings
2. Amelia Kerr - 188 runs in 8 innings
3. Yastika Bhatia - 185 runs in 7 innings 

MI leading wicket-takers:

1. Shabnim Ismail - 8 wickets in 6 innings
2. Natalie Sciver-Brunt - 8 wickets in 8 wickets
3. Amelia Kerr - 7 wickets in 8 innings

RCB leading run-scorers

1. Smriti Mandhana - 259 runs in 8 innings
2. Ellyse Perry - 246 runs in 7 innings
3. Richa Ghosh - 226 runs in 7 innings

RCB leading wicket-takers

1. Asha Sobhana - 9 wickets in 8 innings
2. Sophie Molineux - 8 wickets in 8 innings
3. Shreyanka Patil - 7 wickets in 6 innings

Talking about this season both the teams have defeated each other once. The first match happened in Bengaluru, where MI defeated the hosts despite missing their skipper in that game due to an injury. Nat-Sciver was the skipper and MI chased 132 with ease as Amelia Kerr made 40 off 24 in the chase. 

The second round saw Ellyse Perry going berserk. Six wickets in four overs and with figures of 6/15, she was the biggest highlight. She made 40 in the 114-run chase.

Mumbai Indians have made it to the playoffs for the second time in a row. They finished on the second place in the points table with five wins in eight games. Mumbai have defeated RCB, UPW, DC and GG (twice)

MI's road to playoffs:

beat DC by 4 wickets

beat GG by 5 wickets

lost to UPW by 7 wickets

beat RCB by 7 wickets

lost to DC by 29 runs

beat UPW by 42 runs

beat GG by 7 wickets

lost to RCB by 7 wickets

RCb made it to the playoffs on their second attempt after missing out from the knockouts in the 2023 season, where they finished fourth. In 2024 they finished the league stage on third with four wins from eight games. Bangalore won two on the row to begin their campaign as they defeated UPW and GG. But RCB then lost to DC and MI. They then made a double over UPW but lost to GG and DC next. RCB won their last match against MI to make their way into the playoffs.

RCB's road to playoffs:

beat UPW by 2 runs

beat GG by 8 wickets

lost to DC by 25 runs

lost to MI by 7 wickets

beat UPW by 23 runs

lost to GG by 19 runs

lost to DC by 1 run

beat MI by 7 wickets

Mumbai Indians and the Royal Challengers Bangalore have met each other four times in the WPL previously and three of those previous four occasions, the MI side has had the better of RCB. MI defeated RCB twice in WPL 2023. They defeated them in the first fixture in 2024 but lost to them in their final game of the group stage. Can RCB get one more better on MI and this time when it counts the most? We shall find that out

It's time for the WPL Eliminator as Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore go toe-to-toe with each other in this high-octane clash. MI vs RCB is always a big clash in IPL but it is very special in WPL too. Big wigs - Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana face each other as the clash of two Indian superstars is ahead of us. So hold yourself for this fascinating clash as I Varun Malik, take you across this rollercoaster ride.