Drama, thrill, patience, you name it and it was delivered in the first reverse fixture of TATA WPL between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy on Monday. A roller-coaster win by six wickets is now the fourth win registered by us as we sit comfortably on the second spot of the points table.
Our skipper Meg Lanning won the toss and chose to bowl first. She made two changes in the Playing XI, bringing Alice Capsey and Arundhati Reddy in place of Laura Harris and Minnu Mani. On the other hand, the Smriti Mandhana-led side introduced four changes to their attack.
Delhi Capitals were on money right from the word go. We played strength to strength with periodic wickets followed by decent partnerships chasing 151. RCB tried their best to snatch the close encounter by going down till the last over, but Jess Jonassen’s last-over fireworks ensured that we secured another win.
A Shikha Pandey Special Start:
Like the trailer before a movie, Marizanne Kapp gave us feels by starting with a maiden over.
Shikha Pandey took off from there. On her first ball of the fifth over, Mandhana pulled towards deep mid-wicket only to find herself caught by her off-field best friend and Indian teammate, Jemimah Rodrigues.
Shikha Pandey doubled her wicket count by taking out Sophie Devine on the last ball of the ninth over. Bamboozled by the inside edge, Devine’s leg stump was knocked off.
Noting RCB’s woes, another inside-edge delivery took out Heather Knight. Tara Norris made no mistake with the good-length ball. A sweep shot courtesy put Pandey in limelight again, this time with the catching duty!
Tara Norris was all of us after watching THAT Shikha Pandey blinder!
Pandey Halts Perry-Ghosh Partnership:
After 64-3 at the end of 14 overs, RCB started to gain momentum with the fiery Ellyse Perry on one side and Richa Ghosh on the other.
Changing gears with five 6s and four 4s, Perry quickly climbed to 67* (52). On the Orange Cap leaderboard, she jumped to the second spot with 195 runs.
But just when Dilliwalon felt the match inching towards RCB, Pandey shined with her third wicket of the day. She broke the much-needed partnership. Later confirmed by a Delhi review, Ghosh walked back after smashing three 6s and 4s apiece.
RCB wrapped up 150 runs in 20 overs at the loss of four wickets.
Capsey Stars After A Wobbly Start:
We faced an early setback as Megan Schutt dismissed Shafali Verma on the second ball of the second innings, giving the Aussie her first wicket of TATA WPL.
Alice Capsey accelerated our innings hitting Renuka Singh for back-to-back boundaries in the fourth over. The RCB attack brought in all the variety they had to offer our girls. Sadly, another change in the bowling attack got RCB the vital wicket of Capsey as a hard slog-sweep reached Perry on the fence.
At the end of 8 overs with 67-2, Skipper Meg Lanning and Vice-Captain Jemimah Rodrigues looked to settle down for a quick chase. Unfortunately, our captain was taken off at long-off by Knight off Asha Shobana.
Shobana took matters a step further when she dismissed Rodrigues, the top edge nicely taken by Ghosh. A fighting knock of 32 (28) ended in the 15th over supported by three fours.
A Thrilling Conclusion Starring JJ:
With Marizanne Kapp and Jess Jonassen taking charge by striking boundaries time and again, we only looked forward from there.
A dramatic appeal and review of Kapp’s run-out left us at the edge of our seats. With just 16 runs away from victory on the last ball of the 18th over, Kapp came down the track for a quick single and her diving effort set the course for tonight’s game.
Jonassen kept the boundaries flowing, including the winning six and four. Going down till the last over, our fifth wicket partnership ensured yet another victory.
We hope to deliver again when we face Gujarat Giants for our second reverse clash at Brabourne Stadium - CCI, Mumbai on March 16, 7:30 PM.
Till then, let’s keep RRRoaring!
Brief Scores: Delhi Capitals 154/4 in 19.4 overs (Alice Capsey 38, Jemimah Rodrigues 32; Sobhana Asha 2/17) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 150/4 in 20 overs (Ellyse Perry 67*; Richa Ghosh 37, Alice Capsey; 1/14Shikha Pandey 3/24) by six wickets.
Player of the match: Jess Jonassen
Drama, thrill, patience, you name it and it was delivered in the first reverse fixture of TATA WPL between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy on Monday. A roller-coaster win by six wickets is now the fourth win registered by us as we sit comfortably on the second spot of the points table.
Our skipper Meg Lanning won the toss and chose to bowl first. She made two changes in the Playing XI, bringing Alice Capsey and Arundhati Reddy in place of Laura Harris and Minnu Mani. On the other hand, the Smriti Mandhana-led side introduced four changes to their attack.
Delhi Capitals were on money right from the word go. We played strength to strength with periodic wickets followed by decent partnerships chasing 151. RCB tried their best to snatch the close encounter by going down till the last over, but Jess Jonassen’s last-over fireworks ensured that we secured another win.
A Shikha Pandey Special Start:
Like the trailer before a movie, Marizanne Kapp gave us feels by starting with a maiden over.
Shikha Pandey took off from there. On her first ball of the fifth over, Mandhana pulled towards deep mid-wicket only to find herself caught by her off-field best friend and Indian teammate, Jemimah Rodrigues.
Shikha Pandey doubled her wicket count by taking out Sophie Devine on the last ball of the ninth over. Bamboozled by the inside edge, Devine’s leg stump was knocked off.
Noting RCB’s woes, another inside-edge delivery took out Heather Knight. Tara Norris made no mistake with the good-length ball. A sweep shot courtesy put Pandey in limelight again, this time with the catching duty!
Tara Norris was all of us after watching THAT Shikha Pandey blinder!
Pandey Halts Perry-Ghosh Partnership:
After 64-3 at the end of 14 overs, RCB started to gain momentum with the fiery Ellyse Perry on one side and Richa Ghosh on the other.
Changing gears with five 6s and four 4s, Perry quickly climbed to 67* (52). On the Orange Cap leaderboard, she jumped to the second spot with 195 runs.
But just when Dilliwalon felt the match inching towards RCB, Pandey shined with her third wicket of the day. She broke the much-needed partnership. Later confirmed by a Delhi review, Ghosh walked back after smashing three 6s and 4s apiece.
RCB wrapped up 150 runs in 20 overs at the loss of four wickets.
Capsey Stars After A Wobbly Start:
We faced an early setback as Megan Schutt dismissed Shafali Verma on the second ball of the second innings, giving the Aussie her first wicket of TATA WPL.
Alice Capsey accelerated our innings hitting Renuka Singh for back-to-back boundaries in the fourth over. The RCB attack brought in all the variety they had to offer our girls. Sadly, another change in the bowling attack got RCB the vital wicket of Capsey as a hard slog-sweep reached Perry on the fence.
At the end of 8 overs with 67-2, Skipper Meg Lanning and Vice-Captain Jemimah Rodrigues looked to settle down for a quick chase. Unfortunately, our captain was taken off at long-off by Knight off Asha Shobana.
Shobana took matters a step further when she dismissed Rodrigues, the top edge nicely taken by Ghosh. A fighting knock of 32 (28) ended in the 15th over supported by three fours.
A Thrilling Conclusion Starring JJ:
With Marizanne Kapp and Jess Jonassen taking charge by striking boundaries time and again, we only looked forward from there.
A dramatic appeal and review of Kapp’s run-out left us at the edge of our seats. With just 16 runs away from victory on the last ball of the 18th over, Kapp came down the track for a quick single and her diving effort set the course for tonight’s game.
Jonassen kept the boundaries flowing, including the winning six and four. Going down till the last over, our fifth wicket partnership ensured yet another victory.
We hope to deliver again when we face Gujarat Giants for our second reverse clash at Brabourne Stadium - CCI, Mumbai on March 16, 7:30 PM.
Till then, let’s keep RRRoaring!
Brief Scores: Delhi Capitals 154/4 in 19.4 overs (Alice Capsey 38, Jemimah Rodrigues 32; Sobhana Asha 2/17) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 150/4 in 20 overs (Ellyse Perry 67*; Richa Ghosh 37, Alice Capsey; 1/14Shikha Pandey 3/24) by six wickets.
Player of the match: Jess Jonassen
