What a season Royal Challengers Bangalore has had. After a seesawing campaign in the league stage, the side – largely thanks to the brilliance of Ellyse Perry – crawled its way into the knockouts.
Facing Mumbai Indians – the very side it beat to qualify for the playoffs – RCB’s luck and a few clinical performances under pressure carried the side into the summit clash after it sealed a tense five-run win in the final over at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Friday.
Smriti Mandhana opted to bat, looking to set a target on a surface that largely stayed slow. RCB fielded its fourth new opening pair, sending an out-of-form Sophie Devine alongside Smriti Mandhana.
RCB beat MI by five runs: WPL 2024 Eliminator Highlights - As it happened
The duo got off to a flyer, taking Shabnim Ismail for 14 runs. Hayley Matthews removed Devine, with the ball clipping her off stump in the second over. Smriti fell two deliveries later to Nat Sciver-Brunt. Disha Kasat and Ellyse Perry were tasked with steadying the innings, but the former – a regular top order bat in domestic cricket – crumbled under pressure, falling for a seven-ball duck.
This forced Richa Ghosh to take guard far earlier than she would have liked. MI’s bowlers cramped her for space much like pedestrians struggle for room in the crowded galis of Old Delhi. Richa, and Sophie Molineux eventually made their way back to the dugout, leaving Perry to do all the heavy lifting yet again. She scored yet another fifty, with a sublime 50-ball 66 helping a once-doomed RCB total to a respectable 135.
Matthews and Yastika Bhatia started positively, but the former’s poor run of form continued after Shreyanka Patil dismissed her in the fourth over. Perry removed Yastika and kept things tight, sticking to a tried-and-tested stump line.
Sciver-Brunt was taken out by Wareham just as she started breaching the boundary. Harmanpreet Kaur and Amelia Kerr looked set to take the team through with a 52-run stand, but Harman and Sajana soon after found themselves watching nervously from the dugout.
With 12 needed off the last six balls, Smriti turned to Asha Sobhana, who helped keep things tight, removed Pooja Vastrakar, and closed out a dicey win, defending the lowest score in the tournament.
RCB will lock horns with the Delhi Capitals in its bid for a maiden WPL title on Sunday.
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