Delhi Capitals held their nerves to register their fourth win in the ongoing Women's Premier League (WPL) 2023 with a close six-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore, who suffered their fifth consecutive loss in the season at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, here on Monday.
Delhi are in the second spot with eight points while RCB lie at the bottom as they are yet to open their account. Batting first, a fighting fifty (67 not out off 52) by Ellyse Perry along with Richa Ghosh's quickfire knock (37 off 16) lifted Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to 150/4 in 20 overs.
Perry was dropped on 29 by Shikha Pandey and she made the Delhi side pay for it. Chasing a modest total, Delhi Capitals lost the wicket of in-form batter, Shafali Verma, in the first over of the inning bowled by Meg Lanning.
However, Alice Capsey came to bat next and took the charge for Delhi by scoring some stunning boundaries. On the other hand, skipper Meg Lanning was playing the anchor role to perfection by rotating strikes regularly and hitting occasional boundaries.
Preeti Bose, who came into the attack next was welcomed by two back-to-back fours by Capsey but she lost her wicket in the same over whilst attempting another boundary.
Jemimah Rodrigues walked in to bat at number four and joined skipper Lanning in the middle, with Delhi ending the powerplay at 52-2. The likes of Shreyanak Patila and Shobhana Asha shared the ball for the next few overs and kept things in control for RCB.
With the required run rate increasing with each passing over, captain Lanning went for a glorious shot but was caught by Heather Knight, leaving Delhi at 70-3 after 8.4 overs.
Marizanne Kapp, who came to bat next, started dealing in boundaries as Delhi needed 68 runs in 60 balls for the win. Though Ellyse Perry and Shobhana Ashe didn't leak boundaries Delhi batters especially Jemimah was collecting singles and doubles to keep things going for Delhi.
RCB needed wickets but they dropped Jemimah's catch on the first ball of the eleventh over and the batter hit a few boundaries before getting out in the 15th over.
When Jemimah got out, Delhi were 109/4 in 14.3 overs and the game was in the balance but Kapp and Jonassen had confidence in their ability. However, Shreyanka and Schutt bowled some excellent overs with discipline, with Delhi Capitals needing 24 runs in 18 balls.
Eventually, Delhi needed 9 runs in 6 balls and Jess Jonassesn smashed Renuka Singh Thakur for a six to deep mid-wicket and a four to long-off to wrap up the game in 19.4 overs.
Asha Shobana (2-27), Preeti Bose (1-12) and Megan Schutt (1-24) were the wicket-takers for RCB. Earlier, RCB made a slow start as Marizanne Kapp set a brilliant tone for DC by bowling a maiden first over against Smriti Mandhana.
Kapp, who claimed a sensational fifer in the last game, continued her impressive show along with Alice Capsey from the other end and the pressure was building on RCB batters, especially Mandhana.
Though Sophie Devine was hitting boundaries from the other end, Mandhana's rotten luck this WPL season continued with Shikha Pandey dismissing her on the very first ball of the fifth over.
Ellyse Perry walked in to bat at No. 3 for RCB and started with a boundary past cover point but RCB could score just 29 runs in the powerplay. It was again Shikha, who claimed another wicket for Delhi by removing Devine, leaving RCB at 41/2 after 9 overs.
The next few overs also didn't yield many runs for RCB as Delhi Capitals were doing brilliantly both in bowling and fielding. RCB had high hopes for experienced Heather Knight but she also couldn't do much, getting out to Tara Norris for 11 in the 13th over.
After 14 overs, RCB had only managed to post 68 runs on the board and they seemed in danger yet again. However, star Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry and India's Richa Ghosh had other ideas.
Their partnership rescued RCB, who lost Smriti and Devine early and the slowness of the pitch forced Perry to play the anchor role. Ghosh, who came out to bat with aggressive intent, changed the momentum.
Her blitz also inspired Perry to play some glorious shots in the last few overs. Delhi bowlers looked a bit clueless against Perry and Richa as the last six overs produced 82 runs for RCB, who finished with 150/4 in 20 overs.
Shikha Pandey was the most successful bowler for DC with 3-23 while Tara Norris (1-25) was the other wicket-taker.
Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 150/4 in 20 overs (Ellyse Perry 67 not out, Richa Ghosh 37; Shikha Pandey 3-23) lost to Delhi Capitals 154/4 in 19.4 overs (Alice Capsey 38, Marizanne Kapp 32 not out, Jemimah Rodrigues 32; Asha Shobana (2-27) by six wickets