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Imperious Mandhana leads RCB to victory over Capitals

cricket17 February 2025 17:43| © MWP
By:CS Chiwanza
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Smriti Mandhana flayed an imperious half-century to lead the Royal Challengers Bangalore to a dominant eight-wicket victory over the Delhi Capitals in their Women's Premier League encounter at the Vadodara Stadium on Monday.

RCB outplayed the Capitals in all departments and executed the chase with 22 balls to spare.

The victory lifts them to the top of the table.

“We wanted to do two from two and we did it. I had the best seat in the house there with Smriti going the way she was,” Danni Wyatt-Hodge shared after the match.

The toss went Mandhana's way and the RCB captain elected to bowl first.

She thought that the wicket would assist her bowlers in the first six overs and dew would be a factor later in the evening.

Her bowlers backed up her call by dismissing the Capitals for 141 in 19.3 overs.

RCB made light work of the chase and raced to 146-2 in 16.2 overs.

Mandhana biffed 10 fours and three sixes all around the stadium on her way to 81 off 46 balls.

This is her third WPL half-century. The 28-year-old creamed eight fours and a single six to reach the milestone, which came in 27 deliveries.

This is Mandhana's fastest WPL half-ton.

The opener would have loved to see her side past the finish line, unfortunately, she couldn't.

She departed with nine runs to go.

The RCB captain fell trying to execute a scoop. She mistimed it and gave Arundhati Reddy a straightforward catch at short fine leg.

Mandhana was supported by Danni Wyatt-Hodge, with whom she shared a 107-run partnership.

Wyatt-Hodge was the foil to Mandhana's aggressive strokeplay as the duo tore the Capitals apart.

Wyatt-Hodge played an excellent hand, spanking seven fours for her 33-ball 42.

The England international's innings ended when she holed out to Jemimah Rodrigues at the cover boundary.

However, the wicket was too little too late, with RCB in need of 35 runs from 9.1 overs.

“She [Mandhana] keeps me very calm. She was my coach tonight which was helpful. We played for Southern Brave, we know each other's games,” Wyatt-Hodge explained.

Mandhana and Wyatt-Hodge began their 2025 WPL season with an underwhelming 13-run opening partnership in their record chase against the Gujarat Giants.

Neither opener got going. Mandhana was dismissed for nine off seven and Wyatt-Hodge only managed a run-a-ball four.

Different versions walked out to bat against the Capitals.

The duo looked in control against Meg Lanning and company. They rollicked through the powerplay, mounting an unbroken 57-run opening stand.

They put their foot on the accelerator as they raced to a 100-run partnership in the next 24 balls.

Ellyse Perry and Richa Ghosh's services were required to score the few remaining runs to clinch victory.

RCB BOWLERS SQUEEZE CAPITALS

Earlier in the evening, Renuka Singh struck in the first over to give her side the advantage.

Shafali Verma caused problems for RCB in last year's final with a 27-ball 44 on a surface where most batters struggled to find their rhythm.

Renuka Singh averted that disaster by dismissing her for a first-ball duck.

However, Meg Lanning and Jemimah Rodrigues stitched a brilliant 59-run second-wicket partnership.

Most of the runs came off Rodrigues's bat as they carved the field into sections of a pie chart and smashed sixes when offered as they vaulted the Capitals to 55-1 after the powerplay.

“The batters got in at times, but couldn't carry on. Not our best night,” Lanning, the Capitals captain, shared after the match.

The last time these two sides met, the Capitals lost their way after Shafali's blitz.

They were unable to buck the trend. Rodrigues's dismissal was the first of four wickets the Capitals lost in a 4.2-over period.

The collapse was followed by a 29-ball boundery-less period as the RCB bowlers applied the squeeze.

"The bowlers did a great job restricting DC to below 150. In fielding we saved 15-20 runs," Mandhana shared.

Renuka was one of the bowlers who masterfully applied the squeeze on the Capitals.

The RCB pacer led the attack with three wickets for 23 runs in four overs.

Georgia Wareham was brilliant in the middle overs and finished with three wickets for 25 runs in four overs.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU: Smriti Mandhana (capt), Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Ellyse Perry, Raghvi Bist, Richa Ghosh (wk), Kanika Ahuja, Georgia Wareham, Ekta Bisht, Kim Garth, VJ Joshitha, Renuka Singh

DELHI CAPITALS: Meg Lanning (capt), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Annabel Sutherland, Jess Jonassen, Marizanne Kapp, Sarah Bryce (wk), Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Minnu Mani

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