Royal Challengers Bangalore clinch WPL 2024 title, beat Delhi Capitals in one-sided final

The Royal Challengers Bangalore won their maiden Women’s Premier League title on Sunday (March 17) by beating batting-heavy Delhi Capitals by eight wickets in a one-sided final. RCB’s Shreyanka Patil picked four wickets, and left-arm orthodox Molineux returned with three wickets to see RCB home. Captain Smriti Mandhana scored 31, while Ellyse Perry remained unbeaten on 35.

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Delhi Capitals won the toss and elected to bat first in the all-important WPL final. The star pair of Shafali Verma and Captain Meg Lanning got the home side to a blistering start, completing 50 inside the first six overs. Verma was the aggressor of the two, smashing fours and sixes at will.

When both looked like taking the game to the next level, Sophie Molineux picked three wickets in her first over to derail DC’s momentum. The left-arm orthodox removed Verma on the first ball caught in deep on 44 and then claiming Jemimah Rodrigues and Alice Capsey in successive balls.

It was the beginning of the end of their innings, as DC lost wickets in a cluster.

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Shreyanka Patil was their star bowler for the night, picking four wickets, including the big one of Lanning whom she trapped in the front. Though she accounted for the last three DC wickets, Asha Sobhana broke DC’s back in the lower order by removing the overseas pair of Marizanne Kapp and Jess Jonassen on single digits.

Courtesy of some incredible bowling from RCB and careless batting from the home side, RCB wrapped up DC’s innings on a mere 113 inside 20 overs.

Perry, Mandhana star for RCB

Chasing a modest total of 114 in their first WPL final, the RCB openers – Mandhana and Sophie Devine, deployed a cautious approach and scored runs at their pace.

Though the pair had less to worry about, given the star power waiting in the wings to come and deliver, they took minimal risk knowing what was at stake. They added 49 for the first wicket before Shikha Pandey removed Devine on 32. Mandhana looked solid in the middle but lost her wicket on 31, leaving Perry and Richa Gosh to complete the formalities.

Both held their nerves and kept rotating strikes while slamming the bad balls for the boundaries.

Though the match entered the final over with just five runs remaining, a shot over deep cover by Gosh clinched the victory for RCB, who became the second team after Mumbai Indians (who clinched the maiden WPL title) to bag the honours.