Smriti Mandhana’s Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday pipped Mumbai Indians by 5 runs in the eliminator to reach the final of the WPL 2024. This would be RCB’s first appearance in the final of the tournament, after faring poorly in the first edition. All credit to the RCB bowlers, who applied brakes on MI’s scoring after they raced to 44/1 in a chase of 136.
Shreyanka Patil (2/16), and Sophie Molineux (1/16), were at their best in a pressure situation, defending a small total against a strong MI batting. But the star of the day for RCB, undoubtedly was, Australia all-rounder Ellyse Perry, who first scored 66 from 50 deliveries, and then picked up the crucial wicket of Yastika Bhatia.
MI vs RCB, As it Happened
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 Richa Ghosh and Sophie Molineux got starts in the game but could not convert them into big scores.
However, Perry (66) stood tall for the team in adversity. 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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MI, on the other hand, started their chase brightly. Openers Yastika and Hayley added 27 runs for the opening partnership, providing the team with a solid start. Nat Sciver, 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.
