WPL 2024: Delhi Capitals make two wins in row, beat RCB

Bengaluru: A fantastic all-round performance saw Delhi Capitals make it two wins in a row as they beat hosts Royal Challengers Bangalore by 25 runs in Match 7 of the TATA WPL 2024 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Thursday.

A collective batting effort, led by Shafali Verma (50 off 31), helped DC post 194/5 after being asked to bat first.

Shafali set the platform along with Capsey (46 off 33). Marizanne Kapp (32 off 16) and Jess Jonassen (36* off 16) took over and produced counter-attacking knocks to provide the final flourish and put up a competitive total on the board.

Kapp then bowled a crucial spell of 2/35 to derail RCB in the middle overs following a delightful knock of 74 from Mandhana, and Jonassen picked up three wickets in the last over as the visitors cruised to a 25-run win.

Chasing 195, captain Mandhana made her intentions pretty clear as she walked down the track off the second ball and swung one over mid-wicket to get off the mark in style with a four.

She followed it up with some delightful shots to take the home side to 52/0 at the end of the Powerplay. Mandhana dominated the first six overs, hitting seven fours and two sixes inside the powerplay.

The RCB captain then brought up her maiden WPL fifty off just 32 balls. Devine then joined the party as she cracked a couple of powerful maximums off Minnu Mani, but she departed in the next over, miscuing a full toss off Arundhati Reddy, who broke the 77-run opening stand.

Mandhand, however, continued to attack and took the home side to 98/1 from 11 overs. Lanning then brought Kapp back into the attack, and the senior all-rounder answered her captain's call with the big wicket of Mandhana (74 off 43), cleaning her up with a slower one after being hit for a six off the previous ball.

Things slowed down for the next couple of overs before Richa Ghosh pressed the accelerator button with two consecutive sixes off Reddy. But Kapp again came back to provide a crucial breakthrough as she dismissed Ghosh at an important juncture to dent RCB.

The home side couldn't get the momentum going and were left with a difficult task of 40 to get off 12 balls. S Meghana hit two fours to start the penultimate over but then got run out, and de Klerk departed off the next ball as the equation came down to 28 needed off 6. Jonassen capped off a wonderful night with three wickets in the final over as DC cruised to a 25-run win.

Earlier, Royal Challengers Bangalore Captain Smriti Mandhana won the toss and elected to field. Renuka Singh Thakur could have had a wicket in the first over, that too of the dangerous Shafali Verma, but Shreyanka Patil dropped the opener when on four.

The RCB bowlers, though, largely bowled with discipline and kept Verma and captain Meg Lanning in check. And that brought rewards as Lanning departed in the fifth over, hitting one straight to deep point off Sophie Devine. Shafali then smacked a four and a six off Sophie Molineux to take DC to 45/1 at the end of the Powerplay.

Alice Capsey, who had started off positively, took over the aggressor's role as she cracked a couple of fours off Asha Shobana and then a six and a four off Georgia Wareham to bring up the 50-run stand off 32 balls as DC reached 84/1 at the half-way mark.

Shafali picked up her momentum as she smashed a couple of sixes off Shreyanka Patil to bring up her fifty off just 30 balls. But the RCB all-rounder bounced back hard off the next ball to have Verma (50 off 31) caught at deep mid-wicket.

Capsey then got a lifeline as she was dropped by Devine off Nadine de Klerk off the very next ball, but de Klerk was rewarded later in the over as she had Jemimah Rodrigues caught at mid off. RCB's fightback continued as de Klerk cleaned up the set Capsey with a brilliant yorker on 46(33).

Jess Jonassen and Marizanne Kapp (32 off 16), though, didn't let the pressure build as they went on a counter-attack, adding 48 off just 22 balls. Jonassen finished it off in style with a four and a six to propel DC to 194/5. Jonassen remained unbeaten on 36 off just 16 balls as DC scored 70 off the last five overs.