WPL | Devastation with new ball and Smriti show takes RCB to four in four with DC thumping

‌Optin to bowl first, Royal Challengers Bengaluru's incredulous form with the new ball continued as Lauren Bell took just three balls to sound Lizelle Lee the death rattle with a swinging yorker, and then crash into Laura Wolcdaart's middle-stump with an unplayable inseamer two deliveries later. Sayali Satghare joined the party by having Jemimah Rodrigues clip on an inswinger after greeting her with scooped boundary, and completed the top-order demolition by dispatching Marizanne Kapp first ball by straightening a length ball just enough to hit the top of off. Shafali Varma could only watch patiently from the other end as her side was reduced to 10/4, and decided to take matter into her own hands. The youngster cracked three boundaries off Bell's next two overs, in the midst of which she struck Satghare for two maximums to seize back momentum. Smriti Mandhana responded by introducing Shreyanka Patil to the attack and saw her disappear for two more maximums, taking the Capitals to 60/4 by the end of the powerplay. However, wickets continued to tumble at the other end as Niki Prasad and Minnu Mani fell in the space of five deliveries soon after the spread of field, further denting Capitals to 74/6. Nevertheless, Sneh Rana dug in to ensure Shafali support as she brought up a 27-ball half-century in the 11th over, and stitched a crucial 34-run stand with the youngter before losing her furniture to a Prema Rawat googly for a run-a-ball 22. With four overs to go, DC found themselves at 129/7, and to their horror saw Shafali succumb to a back-of-the-hand slower ball as soon as Bell returned to the attack for a 41-ball 62. Nevertheless, Lucy Hamilton took over the onus of getting them to a competitive score as she capitalized on a thick edge for four in the 18th bowled by Shreyanka by smashing two gporgeous maximums. The Kiwi added a third on debut in the final over to end up with a 19-ball 36, enough to take DC to 166 in their allotted quota.

In response, RCB got ogg to a cautious start as Kapp nearly pinned Grace Harris LBW before extracting a play-and-miss and a top-edge from Mandhana that landed in no-man's land. However, the Indian opener took little to discover her rhythm as she heaved Hamilton's second ball for four, before adding two more elegant boundaries in the over to get proceedings underway. Kapp at the other end managed to get Harris all the same after a four-ball stay, bringing Georgia Voll to the crease, and conceded just nine runs in her three powerplay overs to restrict RCB to 37/1. Mandhana ensured the spread of field did not shackle the side further as she greeted Shree Charani into the attack with back-to-back boundaries, the latter off a thick outside edge, before replicating the effort against Rana in the next over. Another boundary off Charani thereafter brought up a 31-ball half-century, and despite a sluggish start for Voll RCB found themselves well stationed at 83/1 at the halfway satge. Voll finally upped the tempo with a four and a stonking maximum off Nandani Prasad, a stunt Mandhana reporduced against Hamilton to leave RCB needing just 54 off the final eight overs. A couple of relatively tight overs threatened to introduce some jeopardy, but the skipper dispelled all such notions with yet another maximum in a 13-run 16th over. Two fours against Kapp took Mandhana into the 90s, but just when she was a boundary away from registering a first century in WPL history, a brilliant catch by Hamilton handed Nandani the prized scalp with the match practically secure for the table-toppers. Nevertheless, Voll brought up a 41-ball fifty in the same over, and scooped a four with 10 balls to spare to seal a comprehensive eight-wicket win. 

Captain's innings

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