Smriti Mandhana’s maiden WPL fifty in vain as Delhi Capitals halt RCB’s impressive start to season

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 however RCB fell 25 runs quick whereas chasing 194 runs in the seventh match of the match.

Youngsters Shafali Verma and Alice Capsey guided Delhi Capitals to their highest complete of this season after being pressured to bat first at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Mandhana’s 32-ball fifty gave RCB early management of the sport however the center order witnessed an embarrassing collapse to endure their first defeat of the season.

A win additionally boosted Delhi Capitals to the highest of the factors desk with two wins in their opening three video games. Bangalore slipped to second place after witnessing their first defeat of the season whereas Mumbai Indians pushed down to third. 

Bangalore handed debut to South African all-rounder Nadine de Klerk who changed Ellyse Perry whereas the Australian veteran Jess Jonassen changed Annabel Sutherland for Delhi. Nadine took two large wickets to get pleasure from a memorable WPL debut with a ball.

Sophie Devine struck early to dismiss Meg Lanning on simply 11 runs however an 82-run stand between Shafali and Alice Capsey put Delhi on a observe for an enormous complete. Capsey missed her fifty by 4 runs however Shafali smashed her fourth WPL fifty in simply 30 balls. South African veteran Marizanne Kapp additionally contributed by smashing an important 32 off 16 balls whereas Jonassen smashed 32* off 16 to assist Delhi submit 194/5 in 20 overs. 

Chasing a mammoth goal, the in-form Mandhana and Devine gave RCB a sensational start by producing 77 runs for the opening wicket in simply 8.3 overs. Indian pacer Arundhati Reddy eliminated Devine on 23 runs however Mandhana managed to finish her await the first-ever WPL fifty of her profession. 

Smriti took solely 32 balls to document a quickfire fifty and went on to rating 74 runs off simply 43 balls with the assistance of 10 fours and three sixes. However, Delhi pulled off a sensational comeback after Smriti’s dismissal in the twelfth over. 

After impressive batting, each Kapp and Jonassen shone with a ball as RCB witnessed a collapse. Jonassen picked three for 23 whereas Kapp and Reddy bagged two every to limit RCB to 169/9. Kapp claimed the Player of the Match award for her 32 runs off 16 balls and two invaluable 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