Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Smriti Mandhana (PTI Photo/Kunal Patil) Royal Challengers Bengaluru maintained their winning streak in the Women’s Premier League and claimed their eighth triumph over Delhi Capitals on Saturday, with skipper Smriti Mandhana scoring a classy half-century. This marked RCB’s fourth win in a row and kept them firmly at the top of the five-team table, while Delhi remained at the bottom with three losses in four matches.
Sent into bat, Delhi Capitals endured a rocky start as they lost Lizelle Lee and Laura Wolvaardt in the very first over. The slide continued as Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Niki Prasad and Minnu Mani failed to hit, leaving DC reeling at 74 for 6 after just 8.1 overs. Amidst the collapse, explosive opener Shafali Verma played a counter-attacking innings and scored a brilliant 62 off 41 balls, including five fours and four sixes.
She anchored her side with vital partnerships of 59 runs with Niki Prasad and another 34 with Sneh Rana (22), keeping DC’s innings alive. Towards the end, debutant Lucy Hamilton added to the power with a quick-fire 36 off 19 deliveries. Despite Shafali’s heroics, DC were restricted to 166 all out.
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Chasing the target, RCB stumbled early when Grace Harris fell in the third over. However, Mandhana took the lead with a commanding 96 off 61 balls, hitting 13 boundaries and three sixes. She was ably supported by Georgia Voll who suffered 54 not out from 42 balls with five fours and two sixes. The pair put together a 142-run partnership for the second wicket, steering RCB home in 18.2 overs with 10 balls to spare. Mandhana fell just short of her century, brilliantly caught by debutant Lucy Hamilton off Nandani Sharma, but the result was never in doubt. RCB’s win highlighted Mandhana’s master class and the duo’s composure at the crease and showed why they remain at the top of the WPL rankings.
