The WPL champion RCB is crowned as the Delhi Capitals collapse to spin

NEW DELHI: Women have accomplished what men have not been able to! And executed with exquisite grace.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore team, finalists in the Indian Premier League in 2009, 2011, and 2016, was unable to win the championship. In their very first ladies’s Premier League (WPL) final, the RCB ladies accomplished it.
When Richa Ghosh hammered a length ball from Arundhati Reddy over extra cover for a four, RCB earned their first-ever trophy in any tournament in addition to winning the WPL championship for the first time.
Smriti Mandhana, the captain of the team, did what her male predecessors, like Anil Kumble (2009), Daniel Vettori (2011), and Virat Kohli (2016), were unable to do: she lifted the winners’ trophy.

The ladies in red and black put up a strong and polished performance, defeating the Delhi Capitals, the team seen as the favourites going into the championship, by eight wickets.
RCB’s pursuit of a modest 114 ran smoothly as their top three players, Ellyse Perry (35 off 37b; 4×4), Sophie Devine (32 off 27b; 5×4, 1×6), and Smriti Mandhana (31 off 39b; 3×4), comfortably finished the formalities.

It would be simple to split the DC innings into the overs after the powerplay and the overs during the powerplay. Shafali Verma (44 off 27b; 2×4, 3×6) was at her most lethal in the opening six overs, but later on, RCB’s spinners stole the show.
The Delhi hitters were ensnared in a web spun by RCB’s four-pronged spin assault, which included Sophie Molineux (3/20), Asha Sobhana (2/14) and Georgia Wareham (0/16). The Delhi batters fell apart like a pack of cards. At the Arun Jaitley Stadium, the 28,000-strong audience was left dissatisfied by the horror show that was the DC batters.

But the audience was happy with the start, as Shafali and Meg Lanning (23 off 23b; 3×4) struck fours and sixes right away.
After Molineux’s left-arm spin, Shafali struck first in the powerplay with a huge six over long. Shafali’s bat swing created an angle for the ball, which caused it to fly out of the park.

Renuka Singh’s medium pace was especially hard-pressed by Shafali and Lanning. Renuka was largely floating it up to the two hitters and didn’t seem to be in rhythm. Shafali scored a four-over maximum in the fourth over by planting her front foot and hitting it over Renuka’s head. Lanning took part in the excitement as well, smashing the medium-pacer for consecutive boundaries. DC scored 19 runs off the over,, while Renuka conceded 28 runs in her two-over Powerplay period.
Perry received the same treatment from Shafali, who continued the charge, clobbering him down to to the ground for a 75-meter six. Shafali used more than just sheer power; she also displayed a subtle touch when she timed a shot to find the space between the short third and backward point.

By the time the Powerplay ended, DC was cruising at 61/0. But Molineux’s three significant wickets in the eighth over completely changed the course of the game. She first got Shafali to hole out to deep midwicket, where Wareham made a great catch and hung onto it. Subsequently, Jemimah Rodrigues executed a terrible swipe, causing the ball to smash into the central stump. Alice Capsey was the next batter, and if Jemimah’s shot was poor, hers was the worst. She attempted to pick one up as she crossed the stumps. The ball struck the stumps after passing the bat.
Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 115/2 in 19.3 overs (Smriti Mandhana 31, Sophie Devine 32, Ellyse Perry 35*) defeated Delhi Capitals 113 in 18.3 overs (Shefali Verma 44, Meg Lanning 23, Shreyanka Patil 4/12).