Sophie Molineux bowled a dream over of three wickets, Shreyanka Patil continued her stunning streak with a broken hand and Asha Sobhana ripped out two international allrounders in the space of three balls to see the three spinners combine for 9 for 46 in just 10.3 overs to script a Delhi Capitals collapse of 7 for 23 and 10 for 49 to bowl them out for 113. Shreyanka Patil’s performance with bowl made all the fans remiscent of Virat Kohli broken thumb in his glorious year of IPL 2016.
Having finished second from bottom last year, RCB turned their season around for their maiden WPL trophy that made Capitals the runners-up for a second straight year. The best team of the league stage. A team full of world-class allrounders. A bowling attack with all bases covered and a batting line-up with envious depth. A captain with more titles than you can count. But it all came down to one over that turned the WPL final on its heel and a team that was nearly knocked out two days ago lifted the trophy in front of a raucous crowd in Delhi.
Pitch and Toss
We’re on pitch number 5 for this final game. It’s a centre pitch with both sides at 55m and the straight boundary at 65m. It’s not a high scoring ground, so runs on the board could be crucial. 140-150 and you’re in the game. The surface looks dry, but there has been more seam movement. RCB bowling and DC’s batting in the powerplay could go a long way in dictating the result, reckons Charles Dagnell, in his pitch report
Delhi Capitals skipper Meg Lanning won the toss and chose to bat. The Delhi teams made no changes in their squad in the finals.
Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Smriti Mandhana would be bowling first and has made one change in the squad bringing in Meghana Singh for Shraddha Pokharkar.
Shafali Verma starts with a shellacking
Capitals wouldn’t have seen the collapse coming especially after the powerplay they had. Shafali Verma’s swings down the ground powered them to their second-best powerplay score of 61 for 0 and her strokeplay looked ominous. She started by shoveling Molineux over long-on, Renuka Singh straight back and Perry also over long-on. When she deftly steered Perry’s slower one to the deep-third boundary, it was her first four after having smoked three sixes. Meg Lanning, meanwhile, struck consecutive fours to accelerate from 5 off 10 to go past run a ball.
The eventual score for Delhi was a far cry from what was promised after they chose to bat. The most prolific pair of the WPL – Lanning and Shafali – gave DC another blazing start with the latter teeing off. Renuka Singh was tonked for 28 in her first two overs and even Perry was not spared by an aggressive Shafali who bludgeoned her straight down the ground for a six. In all Shafali smashed three sixes and two fours to account for 44 in a 64-run opening stand.
Sophie Molineux rips through Capitals
The RCB spinners especially Shreyanka Patil pounced and dismantles Delhi Capitals.
RCB watchful and clinical at the start of chase.
The chase of a small total brought in some pressure but RCB, led by their skipper Smriti Mandhana at the top, made sure that they did not succumb to it. Mandhana, along with an attacking Sophie Devine, put on a 49-run opening stand even as DC strove hard to make a match out of it. Shikha Pandey brought in all her experience to give away just 11 in her four overs and also trapping Devine LBW. However, Mandhana was joined by another veteran in Ellyse Perry who remained unbeaten with a 37-ball 35.
Mandhana and Sophie Devine were in no hurry to get to 114. They crawled to 25 for 0 in the powerplay with just three boundaries before Devine went after Radha’s first over as soon as the powerplay ended. She smashed three fours on leg with a six in between swung over long-off that reduced the equation to 71 off 78.
RCB hold their nerves as Ellyse Perry carried RCB to their first title.
The chase was never going through too many hiccups but when Mandhana was dismissed with 32 still needed in 36 balls, DC sensed an opening. They managed to drag the game until the final over where five was needed. But after singles off the first couple of balls, Richa Ghosh smacked one over cover for a boundary to end RCB’s trophy drought.
Devine fell two overs later and Mandhana continued to play along the ground in the company of Perry’s solid strokeplay. As opposed to RCB’s dominance with spin, Capitals chose to bowl pace for 10 of the first 13 overs. Their 30 balls without a boundary were, however, not enough to make dents. Arundhati Reddy’s short length leaked two boundaries in an over and even though Mandhana holed out for 31, Perry and Ghosh wiped out the remaining 32 runs without leaving any room for another thriller.
Having finished second from bottom last year, RCB turned their season around for their maiden WPL trophy that made Capitals the runners-up for a second straight year.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Meg Lanning the loosing captain said : Obviously disappointing not to get it done. Finals are about playing well on the day. Congratulations to RCB – you outplayed us tonight. It all happened relatively quickly as it tends to do. As we’ve seen in this tournament, crazy things happen. Full credit to RCB, they fought back really nicely and deserved the win. We did a lot right.
Unfortunately it wasn’t to be. A lot of effort went from a lot of the people. Want to thank the support staff. Cricket is a funny game – you win some, you lose some. Meg Lanning receives the runners-up cheque. Capitals were table-toppers again in the league stages like last year, but failed at the final hurdle again.
Smriti Mandhana the winning skipper said : Feeling hasn’t still sunk in. Hard for me to come out with expressions. One thing I’ll say is I’m proud of the bunch. Our Bangalore leg was really good. We came to Delhi and had two tough losses. That’s what we spoke about that we need to step up at the right time.
These tournaments are about peaking at the right time. Last year taught us a lot of things. What went wrong, what went right. Management just said this is your team, build it (your way).
Thumbs up to them. For RCB, it’s a lot more. I’m not the only one who won the trophy, the team has won the trophy. I’m not the person to talk about what I feel. This is in top five maybe. Obviously a World Cup would top it. Have a message for the fans – the most loyal fanbase. One statement that always comes up is Ee Sala Cup Namde. Now it’s Ee Sala Cup Namdu. Kannada is not my first language but it was important to say it for the fans.
Sophie Molineux got Player of the Match for 3 wickets in an over said : Was a great match. Finals are always funny games. Delhi Capitals were a great team throughout the season. Pretty happy to get over the line. Felt I was bowling slow tonight. Had been bowling quick throughout the tournament – took the learnings from it. To be taken on by RCB after not playing cricket for a while was pretty special. To be a part of it was really cool.
Shreyanka Patil is named Emerging Player of the tournament and walks up to collect the award. Along with that, RCB win the fair play award as well. Now time for Shreyanka Patil to come forward again, this time to take the purple cap. Shreyanka Patil’s four-fer today took her season’s tally to 13. The orange cap (Ellyse Perry) goes to RCB as well, and there are big cheers as Perry walks up to collect.
Deepti Sharma won the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament said : I showed my potential in this tournament. Kept belief in myself to play the shots. Before this season, I had done a lot of drills and developed my off-side game as well. Got a chance to bat up the order this season, and was able to do well thankfully. Wasn’t able to bat well in the first season. Feels good.
RCB fans, you better believe this is real. It’s actually happening. A trophy at long last for the franchise, and there are loud chants of “RCB, RCB” from the crowd egged on by the DJ.
The players are all out there in the middle. Shreyanka Patil, the hero from the Eliminator and today again, jumps on top of Renuka Thakur. Ellyse Perry, who has been sensational in this tournament, stands tall after finishing the job again. She’s talking to the host broadcaster and we’ll have that interview up soon. Some of the players are jumping in joy, there are hugs aplenty, there’s relief, and there’s glory.
This is what the fans have waited for, going through a lot of pain, ups, downs, darkness, agony, and now ecstasy as RCB players lift the trophy. Fireworks go off and there’s confetti everywhere. Incredible scenes in Delhi. It was a season that ensured the WPL goes from strength to strength, and it finishes with Mandhana’s team conquering the Kotla on a historic night in front of a packed crowd. There are celebrations in the middle, and one can only imagine what’s going on in Bengaluru.
Meanwhile Delhi Capitals would only go to drawing board before next season to find what exactly goes wrong for them in the finals after loosing straight 2 finals in a row.