Delhi Capitals Vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, WPL 2024 Final: RCB Beat DC By 8 Wickets, Clinch Maiden Title - As It Happened

Welcome to the highlights of the Women's Premier League 2024 Final match between Delhi Capitals Women and Royal Challengers Bangalore Women at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The stage was set for a new WPL winner as last year's runner-ups DC-W faced RCB-W in the final. Meg Lanning has won many international trophies as captain of the Australia Women's team but in franchise cricket, her search continues as she lost another final as captain and RCB won their maiden WPL title. Catch the highlights of the DC-W Vs RCB-W final match of the WPL 2024 here. (Match Report | Full Coverage | Schedule And Points Table)

Delhi Capitals Women have won the toss and have opted to bat

Teams:

Delhi Capitals Women (Playing XI): Meg Lanning(c), Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Taniya Bhatia(w), Shikha Pandey, Minnu Mani

Royal Challengers Bangalore Women (Playing XI): Smriti Mandhana(c), Sophie Devine, Sabbhineni Meghana, Ellyse Perry, Richa Ghosh(w), Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, Shraddha Pokharkar, Renuka Thakur Singh

Meg Lanning | DC-W Captain: We'll bat tonight because we believe it gives us the best chance of winning the game. The pitch seems terrific, and we'll need to bat well. What has happened previously is immaterial; we are up against a fantastic squad and must perform well. We are going with the same team.

Smriti Mandhana | RCB Captain: We would have batted first as well, but I believe it does not go well; we will need to bowl effectively, keep to our plans, and play some decent cricket. We've had a lot of ups and downs thus far, but we need to perform at our peak tonight. This is the fourth match on the same pitch; the last game was played slowly. We have one change: Meghana comes in for Disha Karat.

The pitch number 5 has been used four times before and a low-scoring match is expected, hence every run is important in this summit clash. The surface looks dry and seam movement is expected. The square boundaries are 55 metres each and the straight one is 65 metres.

Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma opened the batting for Delhi Capitals and Renuka Thakur Singh came to bowl the first over. She gave two wides and even without conceding a single boundary, 9 runs came out of the first over.

DC - 9/0 (1)

Renuka Thakur Singh came to bowl her second over in the 4th over of the innings and Shafali Verma started with a thumping six. She then took two doubles and then a single. Meg Lanning smashed two more boundaries to finish the over with 19 runs from that.

DC - 41/0 (4)

Right after the powerplay ended, Georgia Wareham was introduced into the attack in the seventh over and she gave just three runs from that to stop the run-flow.

DC - 64/0 (7)

Sophie Molineux was brought back into the attack and she dismissed the set batter Shafali Verma on the first ball. Jemimah Rodrigues came and she bowled her on the third delivery. On the next, she bowled Alice Capsey. After a good start, Delhi Capitals have lost three wickets in the same over.

DC - 65/3 (8)

There is no bat, and she is stuck right in the middle. UltraEdge verifies no bat and ball-tracking returns three reds. Lanning is out. Always looked like a promising review - Lanning returned to this off-break and played all about it, striking in front of off and middle, about to crash into the stumps.

DC - 75/4 (11)

Asha Sobhana was brought back into the attack in the 14th over right after the break and she dismissed Marizanne Kapp caught out on the very first delivery of the over. Radha Yadav gave a single then Jess Jonassen also lost her wicket after trying for a big shot.

DC - 87/6 (14)

Minnu Mani has been given OUT LBW; she chats with her partner before the clock runs out and she has to leave. 7th wicket for RCB - this seemed quite plumb, and they did well not to review; it was a straight ball at the stumps, and Mani had opted to play the paddle and utterly missed it, striking in front of off and middle, which would have smashed into the stumps.

DC - 90/7 (15)

Sophie Molineux can't go wrong tonight, with a three-wicket over and a run-out of Radha - she's furious with her partner, but she'll have to go. Was tapped in front of cover-point, and Radha Yadav was hoping to sneak a single; she's sent back late, and Molineux was quick on the ball, throwing down the stumps at the bowler's end; Radha Yadav dropped her bat as she turned back, and she was never going to beat the throw.

DC - 105/8 (17)

Shreyanka Patil came to bowl her last over in the 19th over of the innings and she dismissed Arundhati Reddy and Taniya Bhatia in successive deliveries to finish their innings on 113 runs.

DC - 113/10 (18.3)

Royal Challengers Bangalore bowled out Delhi Capitals for 113 runs as their spinners created mayhem after a good start by the Delhi openers. Shreyanka Patil got four wickets and Sophie Molineux got three while Asha Sobhana took a brace. Now, RCB need to go easy for the 114-run target with 120 balls in hand.

DC - 113/10 (18.3)

Shafali Verma - 44 (27), Meg Lanning - 23 (23) | Shreyanka Patil: (3.3 -0-12-4)

Sophie Devine along with Smriti Mandhana opened the batting and Marizanne Kapp started with the first over for DC. Including a four off the third delivery, she conceded just five runs.

RCB - 5/0 (1)

28781 is the attendance at the Arun Jaitley Stadium today which is the highest for any women's cricket match this year in Delhi.

DC - 18/0 (4)

Radha Yadav was introduced into the attack right after the powerplay ended. Sophie Devine hit three fours and a six in the over to collect 18 runs from that.

DC - 43/0 (7)

Devine was handed the LBW and went for the review! And there were three reds. Pandey achieved the breakthrough that Delhi urgently needed. Devine attempted to tuck away a back-of-a-length ball angled in at the stumps but failed.

DC - 53/1 (9)

Shikha Pandey delivered the 12th over and gave just two runs out of it and finished her spell with the bowling figures of 4-0-11-1.

DC - 61/1 (12)

Minnu Mani delivers in her first over to break the partnership and give Delhi hope! Tossed up from around the wicket, floating in around middle and off, tempting Mandhana into a slog sweep. It dips and twists, forming a thick upper edge. Reddy makes a fantastic catch going back from midfield, and there is still some life in the game.

DC - 82/2 (15)

Ellyse Perry and Richa Ghosh have taken the game to an interesting equation. Now RCB need 11 runs only to win the match in 12 balls with eight wickets in hand.

DC - 103/2 (18)

With five runs needed in the last over Richa Ghosh took a single on the first delivery, Perry took another on the second. Now with three needed off four balls, Ghosh went for a boundary and ended up as first-time champions of the Women's Premier League. The party started in the RCB dressing room.

Only in the second year of the WPL, RCB Women have emerged as the champions as that too by defeating last year's runner-ups Delhi Capitals. The Meg Lanning-led Capitals were the best team with the best players combination but RCB came out victorious on the given date and now enjoys as the fresh WPL champions.

To be honest, it's kind of crazy. It's on another level for us; the support for all of the teams has been tremendous and unbelievable. [About Richa Ghosh] She is incredible; for such a young player, she has taken so many shots. We were calm, and we knew we had to stay in the game, which went longer than it should have. [About Molineux] She flipped the contest on its head. The other spinners backed her up. Shreyanka is such a young player, and she has the world at her feet; that was an exceptional performance. That was great. Sophie [Devine] and Shreyanka will take the stage as goat dancers.

I was frightened, but Perry reassured me and advised me to take my shots if the ball was there to be struck. It seemed like a long time (between the Eliminator and the final), but we had prepared thoroughly and worked hard. By God's grace, we won. We just wanted to bowl wicket-to-wicket; a couple of wickets and we were certain we could chase down the target. When the target is low, the game becomes quite intense; you cannot relax at all.

It was a tremendous contest. Finals are usually entertaining contests. The Delhi Capitals were an excellent squad throughout the season. I'm quite delighted to have crossed the finish line. I felt I was bowling slowly tonight. Had been bowling quickly throughout the event and learned from it. It was fairly wonderful to be brought on by RCB after a long absence from cricket. It was incredibly amazing to be a part of it.

Royal Challengers Bangalore's Shreyanka Patil is awarded with the emerging player of the tournament. She has taken two four-fers and both came against Delhi Capitals this year. She has 13 wickets, which is the most in the wicket's tally. She received a purple cap for that as well. Ellyse Perry was awarded with the Orange cap for the most runs (347) in the tournament.

I demonstrated my potential in this competition. I kept believing in myself to make the shots. Prior to this season, I had completed several exercises and improved my off-side game. I had an opportunity to bat further in the order this season and did well, luckily. In his debut season, he struggled to bat effectively. Feels nice.

It's obviously disappointing not to have it done. The finals are about playing well on the day. Congratulations, RCB; you outplayed us tonight. Everything occurred rather fast, as it always does. As we've seen throughout the tournament, weird things happen. Full credit to RCB; they battled back admirably and deserved the victory. We did a lot correctly. Unfortunately, this was not to be. Many people put in a lot of work. I'd want to appreciate the support crew. Cricket is a weird game; you win some and lose some.

Feeling still hasn't set in. I find it difficult to explain myself. One thing I will say is that I'm proud of the group. Our trip to Bangalore went quite well. We arrived to Delhi and suffered two crushing defeats. That is what we discussed: we need to stand up at the appropriate time. These events are all about peaking at the appropriate time. Last year we learned a lot of things. What went wrong? What went right? Management just stated that this is your team; create it (your way). They deserve high marks. For RCB, it's much more. I wasn't the only one who earned the prize; the entire squad did. I'm not the one to express my feelings. This may be among the top five. Obviously, the World Cup would come out on top. Have a message for the most dedicated supporters. One sentence that consistently comes up is "Ee Sala Cup Namde." It's time for the Ee Sala Cup Namdu. Kannada is not my native language, but I felt it was vital to express it to the audience.

RCB franchise have a trophy now. The Smriti Mandhana-led RCB Women have done it. With this title win, WPL 2024 ended on a high note. IPL starts on 22 March. Join us then and there. Goodnight!