The Delhi Capitals captain Meg Lanning won the toss and opted to bat first against Smriti Mandhana's Royal Challengers Bangalore in the much-anticipated Women's Premier League (WPL) 2024 Final at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday, March 17.
Capitals and Challengers performed really well in the ongoing WPL season and emerged as the strong contenders to take home the coveted trophy. Meg Lanning-led DC qualified for the final after finishing on the top of the points table while Smriti Mandhana-led RCB defeated the defending champions Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator to make it to the maiden final of the tournament.
Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians were in a contention to top the table points and earn direct qualification for the Final. Delhi needed just a win to directly make it to the title clash and they did it by defeating Gujarat Giants in the final league stage of the WPL 2024.
Royal Challengers Bangalore had a disappointing outing in the last WPL season as they finished fourth with just 4 points from eight matches. But, this time, Smriti Mandhana and the girls bounced back harder and turned the tables around with impressive performances throughout the campaign thus far.
After failing to qualify for playoffs in the last WPL season, many experts thought Royal Challengers Bangalore would struggle once again in this season. However, Smriti Mandhana and her team proved them wrong by qualifying for the Final with exceptional all-round and consistent performances.
Delhi Capitals to remove stains of WPL 2023 Final loss
Delhi Capitals will be aiming to remove the stains of their Final defeat to Mumbai Indians in the last WPL season by clinching the trophy this time. Meg Lanning and the girls have yet again produced impressive performances throughout the season thus far.
Delhi Capitals began their campaign with a defeat against the defending champions Mumbai Indians. However, Meg Lanning-led side made an incredible comeback and won the next four matches against UP Warriorz, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Gujarat Giants and Mumbai Indians to break into the top three and solidifying their position for playoffs.
Capitals' four-match winning streak came to an after losing to UP Warrioz. However, Delhi Capitals earned victories in the last two matches of the league stage and booked their berth for the second consecutive final of the Women's Premier League.
Skipper Meg Lanning, Shafali Verma, Alica Capsey, Marizanne Kapp, Radha Yadav and Jess Jonassen are the star performers for Delhi Capitals in the WPL 2024 thus far.
Royal Challengers Bangalore aim for maiden WPL title
After finally making it to the Final, Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to end their campaign on a memorable note by clinching their maiden WPL title. Smriti Mandhana-led side has been impressive with their brilliant teamwork and skill on the field.
RCB were off to a good start to their campaign with two consecutive wins against UP Warriorz and Gujarat Giants before suffering two successive defeats against Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians. Smriti Mandhana and the team bounced back with win against UP Warrioz and stayed in a contention for Top 3 finish.
Royal Challengers Bangalore's hopes to qualify for the Playoffs were almost dashed after losing two matches on the trot against Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians. But, RCB finally managed to qualify for the playoffs by winning their last two league stage match against Mumbai Indians.
In the Eliminator, Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated the defending champions Harmanpreet Kaur-led side to book their Final berth. Ellyse Perry emerged as a hero for RCB in the Eliminator as her valiant knock of 66 off 50 balls helped the team to post 135/6, which was defend by the bowlers by restricting MI to 130/6.
Head To Head between Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore
Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore have met each other four times in WPL but Meg Lanning-led side emerged victorious all four occasions. This shows the DC dominance over Smriti Mandhana-led RCB across two seasons of Women's Premier League.
Prediction for WPL 2024 Final between Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore
Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore are strong contenders for the WPL title this year. However, DC dominance over RCB across two seasons, will be an arduous task for the Smriti Mandhana-led side to overcome formidable challenge posed by determined Delhi Capitals.
However, Royal Challengers Bangalore do have players who can step up in crucial situations and turn the game around for the team. The likes of Ellyse Perry, Asha Sobhana, Shreyanka Patil, Richa Ghosh, Georgia Wareham and name a few have had performed for the team in crunch situations.
Delhi Capitals have a strong squad as compared to Royal Challengers Bangalore and the captaincy brilliance of Meg Lanning will be instrumental in leading the team to the title win. It is likely that Delhi Capitals will emerge as the new champions of WPL.
