Ellyse Perry displayed composure with an unbeaten 35 to help Royal Challengers Bangalore win the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 title with an eight-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Sunday. Spinners Shreyanka Patil, Sophie Molineux, and Asha Sobhana shared nine wickets between them.
The long-standing joke, “Ee Sala Cup Namde,” which means “this year the cup is ours,” and its associated mockery came to an end when RCB achieved their long-awaited goal of winning the WPL and became only the second team to do so in the competition’s history. With the ball, Shreyanka proved to be the star, claiming 4-12 to take the lead in wickets for the competition. Meanwhile, Asha claimed 2 wickets and Sophie struck 3 strikes to guarantee that DC was bowled out for 113 in 18.3 overs, having earlier been 64/0. Ellyse, the competition’s top run scorer, persevered through to the very end of the chase, finishing it in 19.3 overs.
Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine took their time, scoring 25 runs in Power-play, including three boundaries between them against Marizanne Kapp, despite the chase being only 114. In the seventh over, Sophie swiped twice off Radha Yadav, giving RCB the momentum they had been waiting for. In the 18-run over, Sophie glided down the pitch to strike the left-arm spinner for a six. However, she was trapped leg before wicket (LBW) after playing all around Shikha Pandey’s nip-backer at number 32 in the ninth over.
Even after RCB’s runs dried up, Smriti and Ellyse managed the chase by being patient and keeping an eye out for an opportunity to raise the stakes. Ellyse gave them a chance when she pulled Arundhati Reddy for a boundary, and in the 13th over, Smriti perfectly timed a drive past the backward point for another four. Then, Ellyse lofted Jess Jonassen over mid-off for four, but Minnu Mani claimed Smriti after Minnu Mani was beaten in flight and holed out to mid-on. Before Richa Ghosh cut Minnu through point for four, Ellyse and her momentarily switched places with their strikes.
To move the RCB closer to win, Ellyse first pulled Jess through mid-wicket for four, and then she flicked Alice Capsey beyond fine leg for another boundary. When Richa lofted Arundhati over mid-off for four, she effectively secured the deal for RCB and ignited wild celebrations around the Bengaluru city and camp as they won the WPL 2024 trophy.
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