Perform or perish. The brief was simple for Royal Challengers Bangalore in a must-win league encounter against the Mumbai Indians. The Arun Jaitley Stadium was a cauldron of chants and whistles in RCB’s favour, ironically adding to the ascending tension. The stage was set for a player to step up and take the team through, and Ellyse Perry raised her hand.
With a remarkable six-wicket haul and a cautious 38-ball 40, Perry nearly single-handedly helped RCB to a massive seven-wicket win over MI here on Tuesday and sealed the third playoff spot in its favour.
Smriti Mandhana opted to chase, banking on the team’s batting arsenal to see it through. MI made it too easy for the women in red, black and gold, putting in a dismal performance with the bat, all out for just 113 with an over left in the innings. After resting Yastika Bhatia for this game, MI opened with Hayley Matthews and Sajeevan Sajana who stitched a 43-run stand for the first wicket. The MI innings would only go downhill from there.
WPL 2024: RCB Women vs MI Women highlights
Perry dismissed Sajana and Harmanpreet Kaur off successive deliveries in the ninth over. She then removed Amanjot Kaur in the 11th over before making short work of Pooja Vastrakar and Nat Sciver-Brunt, with both falling in the span of three deliveries in the 13th over. A usually wasteful RCB conceded only three extras. Perry’s imperious spell included 18 dot balls, which ultimately hurt MI’s cause.
“It’s difficult to watch a performance of the sort against you, but sometimes you just have to applaud the opponent. Perry is the best player in the world,” MI head coach Charlotte Edwards later conceded.
Chasing 114 to win, RCB lost its openers within the five-over mark. Shabnim Ismail took care of Sophie Devine leaving Perry and Richa Ghosh to carry the team through with a 76-run unbeaten stand. It was only fitting that Perry hit the winning runs, a four over mid-off to close the game and in the process, to knock Gujarat Giants and UP Warriorz out of the playoff race.
“The one thing we decided not to talk about this season was the goal. We looked at the fixtures remaining as a quarterfinal, semifinal and final. We didn’t want to dilute the cricket conversations by talking about equations,” Mandhana revealed after the game.
MI (if DC doesn’t lose by an absurd margin on Wednesday) and RCB will most likely meet again on Friday in the eliminator.
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