Royal Challengers Bangalore's skipper Smriti Mandhana's fiery fifty went down in drain as her suffered a 25-run defeat to Delhi Capitals in the 7th match of the WPL 2024 at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday, February 29.
With a target of 195, RCB were restricted to 169/9 by DC bowling attack in 20 overs. Smriti Mandhana was top-scorer for the hosts as she played a blistering knock of 74 off 43 balls. However, her effort went in vain as Royal Challengers Bangalore fell 26 runs short of achieving the target.
Sabbhineni Meghana anchored the innings for RCB but her dismissal led to shift in the game's momentum, with Delhi Capitals edging over the hosts in the run-chase.
For Delhi Capitals, Jess Jonassan led the bowling attack with three wickets while Marizanne Kapp and Arundhati Reddy scalped two wickets.
After opting to bowl first against Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore early wicket in Meg Lanning for 11, dismissed by Sophie Devine at 28/1. Thereafter, RCB bowlers were frustrated by Shafali Verma and Alice Capsey as they revived Delhi Capitals' batting with a crucial 82-run partnership until the former was dismissed by Shreyanka Patil for 50 at 110/1.
Then, Nadine de Klerk picked the wicket of Jemimah Rodriguez for a duck at 111/4. Alice Capsey's stay at the crease came to an end after de Klerk dismissed her for 46 at 124-4.
Marizanne Kapp and Jess Jonassen 48-run stand took DC past 150-run mark
Following Capsey's dismissal, Marizanne Kapp was joined by Jess Jonassen in the middle to carry on Delhi Capitals' batting.
Kapp and Jonassen cruised the visitors' ship and took the team past the 150-run mark in the 17th over of the innings. In two overs, 17th and 18th over, the middle-order pair smashed 38 runs, leaving RCB bowlers Shreyanka Patil and Nadine de Klerk utterly bewildered and struggling to restict the flow of runs at the death.
Marizanne Kapp and Jess Jonassen formed a crucial 48-run partnership until the former was dismissed for 32 at 172/5. Thereafter, Jonassen was joined by Arundhati Roy to take carry on RCB's innings. The pair helped hosts to post a defendable total of 194/5 in 20 overs.
For RCB, Sophie Devine and Nadine de Klerk scalped two wickets each while Shreyanka Patil picked a wicket.
Smriti Mandhana and Sabbhineni Meghana's efforts in vain
Smriti Mandhana (74) and Sabbhineni Meghana (36) put on good fight with their willow but at the end it was not worth it as their fellow RCB batters failed to step up when the team wanted them to deliver in a run-chase.
Smriti provided an excellent start to RCB's run-chase and formed a 77-run partnership with Shopie Devine for the opening wicket until the latter's dismissal at 77/1. Then, RCB skipper shared a 35-run partnership with Meghana for the second wicket before Mandhana was dismissed at 112/2.
Smriti Mandhana's blistering knock consisted of 10 fours and 2 sixes. After her dismissal, the pressure fell on Sabbhineni Meghana to carry on RCB's innings as Richa Ghosh (19) and Georgia Wareham (6) got out cheaply and the hosts were 150/4.
Meghana's stay at the came to an end at 164/5. Thereafter, RCB's batting collapsed as they lost remaining five wickets in just five runs. Neither of the lower order batters showed resistance in a run-chase.
