"Team & fans deserve this, one of the most loyal fans in cricket" - Fans erupt as RCBW beat DCW by 8 wickets to lift WPL 2024 trophy
The Royal Challengers Bangalore Women (RCBW) beat Delhi Capitals Women (DCW) by eight wickets in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 trophy at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Sunday, March 17.
With the win, RCBW joined Mumbai Indians Women (MIW) among WPL winners. It was the first win for the Bengaluru-based franchise across men's and women’s teams since 2008.
Batting first, DCW were bundled out for 113 in 18.3 overs. Shafali Verma starred with the bat, scoring 44 runs off 27 balls, including three sixes and two boundaries. Skipper Meg Lanning contributed run-a-ball 23 before the franchise suffered a middle-order collapse as Delhi lost their last six wickets for just 39 runs. Jemimah Rodrigues, Alice Capsey and Taniya Bhatia departed for ducks.
Shreyanka Patil starred with the ball for RCBW, returning with figures of 4/12, while Sophie Molineux and Asha Sobhana bagged three and two wickets, respectively.
In response, RCBW won the last-over thriller by eight wickets. Skipper Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine chipped in with 31 (39) and 32 (27), respectively. Ellyse Perry and Richa Ghosh stayed unbeaten on 35 (37) and 17 (14), respectively. Shikha Pandey and Minnu Mani shared one wicket each for DCW.
Fans on X (formerly Twitter) lauded RCB for their first-ever title across WPL and IPL since 2008. One user wrote:
"Team & fans deserve this, one of the most loyal fans in cricket."
Here are a few more reactions:
“She [Sophie Molineux] turned the match on its head” – Ellyse Perry picks the turning point of the WPL 2024 final as RCBW beat DCW
Star all-rounder Ellyse Perry picked Sophie Molineux’s three-wicket over as the turning point of the WPL 2024 final. Molineux dismissed Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues and Alice Capsey in the same over.
Perry also lauded Shreyanka Patil for her four-wicket haul. She also credited Richa Ghosh for her contribution during the pressure situation.
She said:
“[on Molineux] She turned the match on its head. The rest of the spinners backed her up. Shreyanka is such a young player and she has got the world at her feet, that was a special performance. That was awesome.”
Perry added:
“[on Richa Ghosh] She is unbelievable, for such a young player, she has got so many shots, we were cool and we felt we had to stay in the game and it took longer than it should have been.”
Perry finished as the leading run-scorer in WPL 2024, scoring 347 runs in nine games at a strike rate of 69.40, including two half-centuries. She also bagged seven wickets in eight innings.