Royal Challengers Bangalore conceded a fifth straight defeat in the Women’s Premier League here on Monday night as Delhi Capitals clinched a six-wicket victory in a tense final. Chasing 151 on a challenging surface, Delhi Capitals were led by pair Jess Jonassen (29 not out) and Marizanne Kapp (32 not out) who produced an all-around show.
After an excellent 4-0-17-0 in the first half, Kapp led Delhi across the finish line on 32 unbeaten, not from as many balls, paired with three fours and a six.
Jonassen beat Renuka Singh for a six and a four to end the game with two balls, reaching 29 fails from 15 balls with four fours and a shot over the fence.
Delhi Capitals scored 154/4 in 19.4 overs.
Delhi Capitals stayed second in the points table with four wins that gave them eight points, while RCB were pushed closer to elimination as they endured a horror campaign in the first WPL and lost all of their five games.
Delhi Capitals were rocked early on by Megan Schutt, who cleaned up the dangerous Shafali Verma in the second ball of the innings to give her side a promising start.
But Alice Capsey took charge as she introduced a barrage of borders to get Delhi on course. However, her attack was stopped by Preeti Bose, who fired the right-handed hitter for a well-made 38 of 24 balls with eight shots on the fence.
Capsey’s shot was crucial as it gave her team some much-needed momentum on a hard surface where the RCB batters struggled for the majority of their first innings.
Delhi’s leading couple Meg Lanning and Jemimah Rodrigues added just 25 runs before their stand was broken in the ninth over.
Lanning danced down the stretch to smack Sobhana Asha over the ropes but couldn’t go the distance and Heather Knight grabbed a clean catch.
Orange Cap keeper Lanning, who was sacked for just 15 balls out of 14, recorded her lowest score in the league.
A defining moment in the game came on the first ball of the 12th over when Preeti Bose dropped a regular catch on point to give Rodrigues a reprieve and bat to 17.
However, Rodrigues died in the 15th over after making 32 of 28 balls with three fours caught by Richa Ghosh in front of Asha.
The remaining runs were hit by Kapp and Jonassen, who added 45 runs for the fifth wicket.
Early in the game, RCB produced a competitive result in their 20 overs, with Ellyse Perry (67 not out) and Richa Ghosh (37) giving them late boosts.
RCB had managed 50/2 at half-time but their batsmen found rhythm and did well to add another 100 to their total in the last 10 overs.
The last six overs yielded 82 runs for RCB, with Perry going unbeaten on 67 balls from 52 with four fours and five sixes and Ghosh hitting her best shot of the tournament so far.
The right-handed India and RCB wicketkeeper batter hit three fours and as many sixes to make 37 from just 16 balls before a miss ended her innings ahead of Shikha Pandey.
Pandey was in her element on Monday night, snagging a couple of key wickets up front in the form of the unusual Smriti Mandhana (8) and the dangerous Sophie Devine (21).
Pandey also grabbed a sharp and athletic catch on short fine leg to get rid of Tara Norris’ Heather Knight (11). Pandey dropped Perry from her own bowling on the 29th, however, and the RCB batsman made the most of the lifeline.
Kapp, who scored a brilliant five-for-win in Delhi’s last game, failed to take a wicket on Monday but threw another impressive spell of 4-0-17-0.
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