A WPL Eliminator to remember! A fixture that had a dull start but ended up being a nail-biter. The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) who were nowhere in the scene to make it through, made a backdoor entry to stun the defending champions Mumbai Indians by 5 runs. Emotions were galore as a teary-eyed Smiriti Mandhana hugged a pumped-up Ellyse Perry as they set up a finale meet-up with Meg Lanning’s Delhi Capitals (DC) on Sunday at the same venue.
WPL 2024 Eliminator: Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore – HIGHLIGHTS
136 would have never sufficed to challenge the side that already has a WPL trophy in their cabinet and more importantly, a captain who was in a red-hot form and recently struck the highest score by an Indian batter in the tournament history. MI too had a few hiccups to begin with. The openers – Yastika Bhatia (19) and Hayley Matthews (15) – were out cheaply while Nat Sciver-Brunt couldn’t capitalize on the start she got and perished for a 17-ball 23. Despite losing three of their batters midway of the chase, they seemed to have all the time on earth to comfortably finish the chase.
Meanwhile, the RCB supporters in attendance had turned quiet while some of the disheartened ones started vacating the arena. The spotlight once again was on Harmanpreet Kaur who seemed to be finishing the game, just like she did it against Gujarat Giants on March 9. With 16 needed off 12, she took the aerial route off Shreyanka Patil’s bowling but found Devine near the long-on fence who took an easy catch to dismiss the MI captain for a 30-ball 33.
Not a surprise at all that the ‘RCB-RCB’ chants were echoing again while the MI dressing room was gripped in nervousness. Sajeevan Sajana was in the middle and being the last batter in the line-up, she was expected to turn the momentum in MI’s favour, just as her heroic performance in the season opener against DC in Bengaluru. But the victory was meant to go RCB’s way at the very last moment. Sajana looked to heave big but missed the ball as she danced down the track and was stumped out.
Captain Smriti Mandhana then makes a surprising move by handing the ball to Asha Sobhana who had bowled just one over before. A tweaker in the final over is an unusual sight to witness but the move paid off. Amelia Kerr and Pooja Vastrakar, both of them possess batting qualities but delivering under pressure isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. A frustrated Vastrakar was trumped by Sobhana’s legbreak and MI were done and dusted for this season.
A lot of credit to RCB’s star all-rounder Ellyse Perry who had returned after the best-ever WPL spell was a player to watch out for. Kotla was almost full house and even the fans who were sporting the MI jerseys were either chanting ‘RCB-RCB’ or ‘Perry-Perry’ for a major part of the game.
The Aussie allrounder had turned up the heat at Kotla, dragging the Royal Challengers single-handedly. While no other batter scored more than 18, Perry came up with her second half-century this season. Shouldering the deflated RCB innings, she smoked 8 boundaries and a six during her 66-run innings off 50 balls.
RCB, who were playing their first-ever playoffs, were off to a flier as the openers – Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine – fired 14 runs in the opening over by Shabnim Ismail. But all hell broke loose for Bangalore after Devine walked back in the following over. Skipper Smriti Mandhana (10), Disha Kasat (0) and Richa Ghosh (14) too bit the dust while Perry, before hitting the top gear, was craving for a partner to hold the other end.
Came the 13th over when Perry smashed a 69-meter six off Pooja Vastrakar over deep mid-wicket to break the shackles. Boundaries had dried up for the others but not for Perry. She kept shooting skyrockets to bring up a well-made fifty off the final ball of the 17th over. With 122/5 on the board and 6 balls remaining, it was her only chance to push RCB to a challenging total but she holed a slower delivery to Saika Ishaque to Nat Sciver-Brunt. She couldn’t carry her bat but did manage to take the Orange Cap with 312 runs and counting.
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