Smriti Mandhana’s Royal Challengers Bangalore Women on Sunday pipped Mumbai Indians Women by 5 runs to reach the final of Women’s Premier League for the first time in WPL 2024. RCB batted first, scoring 135 runs in the first innings. In reply, MI could only score 130 runs as RCB set up a clash with Delhi Capitals in the final.
In the do-or-die game, Royal Challengers Bangalore won the toss and elected to bat first. However, openers Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine did not have an ideal start, giving away their wickets in a space of three deliveries. Middle order batters such as Richa Ghosh and Sophie Molineux got starts in the game but could not convert them into big scores. However, there was one player who stood tall among the all the adversities: Ellyse Perry. The Aussie all-rounder, who came to bat at number 3, built her innings according to the team’s needs and helped the RCB reach a respectable score of 135 runs.
For Mumbai Indians, Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Saika Ishaque all chipped in with two wickets each but more importantly the MI bowlers made sure that they did not give away too many runs in the crucial match.
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Mumbai Indians built up their chase according to the needs of the game. Openers Yastika Bhatia and Hayley Matthews added 27 runs for the opening partnership, providing the Mumbai based franchise with a solid start. Nat Sciver-Brunt, batting at number 3, added a quickfire 23 before departing. MI captain Harmanpreet Kaur fought valiantly with a fighting 33 runs off 30 balls but was caught at the boundary on the last ball of the 17th over. MI needed 16 runs from two overs to win, but it all fell apart as MI kept losing wickets. With 7 runs needed of the last ball, Amelia Kerr failed to hit the last ball for a six to tie the scores, sending RCB to the final of WPL for the first time.
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