Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Smriti Mandhana was at her free-flowing best as she decimated the Delhi Capitals bowling line-up to set up an eight-wicket win in Vadodara on Monday, her team’s second successive triumph in the Women’s Premier League.
RCB chased down the target of 142 in 16.2 overs courtesy of a 107-run partnership between Mandhana (81 off 47 balls) and her opening partner Danielle Wyatt-Hodge (42 off 33).
On a night dominated by RCB, Mandhana pulled, swept, and came down the track to counter any kind of threat from the DC bowlers and killed off the chase, reaching her fifty in just 27 balls. Her innings was laced with 10 fours and three sixes before getting out with her team needing just 11 runs.
Mandhana was well supported by Wyatt-Hodge, who played second fiddle and admitted after the match that she had the best seat in the house to witness her opening partner’s belligerence.
Both openers made their intentions clear from the word go. Mandhana hit two fours off Marizanne Kapp in the first over to set the tone of the chase.
Shikha Pandey bowled a tight over, conceding just two runs. DC captain Meg Lanning then turned to Minnu Manni, knowing Mandhana often struggles against off-spinners. But the opening batter brought out the sweep to take on the offie and hit two fours in the over, keeping the scoring rate high.
The assault continued from the other side as Wyatt-Hodge scored two fours of Shikha in the next over. Mandhana then took on Arundhati Reddy, hitting the first six of the innings. Meanwhile, Wyatt-Hodge hit two more fours against Shikha in the next over.
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RCB posted 66 runs in the Powerplay without any casualties, and both batters were in no mood to take their feet off the pedal. Mandhana reached her half-century in the ninth over with a single. Kapp returned in the next over but was taken to the cleaners by both batters. RCB stood at 102/0 after 10 overs.
Wyatt-Hodge and Mandhana got out trying to further accelerate the scoring rate, but Ellyse Perry and Richa Ghosh, instrumental in RCB’s win in the tournament’s opening game, took their team home, with Ghosh finishing the game off with a six.
DC short-circuit
Earlier, Renuka Singh Thakur and Georgia Wareham combined to share six wickets as RCB bowled out DC for a mere 141.
Renuka returned figures of 3/23, while Wareham bagged 3/25 as RCB fought back impressively after Delhi had reached a comfortable 55/1 after the Powerplay.
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Shafali Verma, as she often does, wanted to go hard from the first ball but only managed to hole out to Mandhana off the bowling of Renuka Singh Thakur on the very first delivery she faced.
Skipper Lanning and Jemimah Rodrigues did well to steady the ship and stitch a 59-run partnership for the second wicket. However, Jemimah (34) was stumped in the seventh over, which was followed by a steady fall of wickets.
After Jemimah’s dismissal, Lanning (17) miscued a short ball and was caught by Perry at square leg. Renuka then struck again in the 11th over, dismissing Annabel Sutherland (19) just as she was starting to find form, hitting Bisht for a six.
Kapp (12), Sarah Bryce (23) and Shikha (14) tried to build partnerships, but Ekta Bisht and Wareham made sure that Delhi’s batting folded in 19.3 overs.
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Brief scores: Delhi Capitals 141 all out in 19.3 overs (Jemimah 34; Renuka 3/23, Wareham 3/25) lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru 146/2 in 16.2 overs (Mandhana 81, Wyatt-Hodge 42) by 8 wkts
