Delhi Capitals ended Royal Challengers Bangalore's unbeaten run in the Women's Premier League 2024 with a 25-run win on Thursday. Captain Smriti Mandhana recorded her maiden WPL fifty but RCB fell 25 runs short while chasing 194 runs in the seventh match of the tournament.
Youngsters Shafali Verma and Alice Capsey guided Delhi Capitals to their highest total of this season after being forced to bat first at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Mandhana's 32-ball fifty gave RCB early control of the game but the middle order witnessed an embarrassing collapse to suffer their first defeat of the season.
A win also boosted Delhi Capitals to the top of the points table with two wins in their opening three games. Bangalore slipped to second place after witnessing their first defeat of the season while Mumbai Indians pushed down to third.
Bangalore handed debut to South African all-rounder Nadine de Klerk who replaced Ellyse Perry while the Australian veteran Jess Jonassen replaced Annabel Sutherland for Delhi. Nadine took two big wickets to enjoy a memorable WPL debut with a ball.
Sophie Devine struck early to dismiss Meg Lanning on just 11 runs but an 82-run stand between Shafali and Alice Capsey put Delhi on a track for a big total. Capsey missed her fifty by four runs but Shafali smashed her fourth WPL fifty in just 30 balls. South African veteran Marizanne Kapp also contributed by smashing a crucial 32 off 16 balls while Jonassen smashed 32* off 16 to help Delhi post 194/5 in 20 overs.
Chasing a mammoth target, the in-form Mandhana and Devine gave RCB a sensational start by producing 77 runs for the opening wicket in just 8.3 overs. Indian pacer Arundhati Reddy removed Devine on 23 runs but Mandhana managed to end her wait for the first-ever WPL fifty of her career.
Smriti took only 32 balls to record a quickfire fifty and went on to score 74 runs off just 43 balls with the help of 10 fours and three sixes. However, Delhi pulled off a sensational comeback after Smriti's dismissal in the 12th over.
After impressive batting, both Kapp and Jonassen shone with a ball as RCB witnessed a collapse. Jonassen picked three for 23 while Kapp and Reddy bagged two each to restrict RCB to 169/9. Kapp claimed the Player of the Match award for her 32 runs off 16 balls and two valuable wickets.
Delhi Capitals Playing XI: Meg Lanning (c), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Alice Capsey, Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen, Arundhati Reddy, Minnu Mani, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey
Royal Challengers Bangalore Playing XI: Smriti Mandhana (c), Sophie Devine, Sabbhineni Meghana, Nadine de Klerk, Richa Ghosh (wk), Georgia Wareham, Sophie Molineux, Shreyanka Patil, Simran Bahadur, Asha Sobhana, Renuka Thakur Singh
