After having a horrendous campaign in the inaugural edition of the Women Premier League (WPL), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB-W) women have made a stunning comeback in the ongoing second edition. The Smriti Mandhana-led team qualified for the playoffs on Tuesday (March 12).
Royal Challengers Bangalore Women (RCB-W) booked a place in the playoffs after their victory over Mumbai Indians at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Smriti Mandhana-led RCB-W put up a magnificent effort with bat and ball in the must-win match and dominated the game.
RCB-W won the toss and opted to play first. Ellyse Perry stole the show with the ball for the team when he produced a match-winning effort with the ball. After going wicketless for 6 games, he made sure to make up for that in the team’s must-win match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
Ellyse Perry picked 6 wickets and changed the course of the game. Early on, Mumbai Indians were in the game as Hayley Matthews (26) and S Sajana (30) added 43 runs for the opening partnership. But the opening wicket led to the collapse as Mumbai came under a lot of pressure.
Ellyse Perry posted the best figures in the WPL and returned with figures of 6/15. Thanks to his valiant efforts with the ball, Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Mumbai Indians by just 113 runs and concluded the innings in 19 overs.
During the chase, RCB-W got off to a shaky start. They lost three quick wickets and were left reeling at 39/3. It was then that Ellyse Perry once again stood tall for his team and played a magnificent innings along with Rich Ghosh.
Ellyse Perry (40*) and Richa Ghosh (36*) added 76 runs together and led RCB-W to victory in 15 overs. With the victory, they became the third Women’s Premier League team to qualify for the playoffs along with Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians.
Glad everyone stepped up in crucial match: Smriti Mandhana on RCB-W’s win
Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Smriti Mandhana spoke about the win and revealed how she lifted her team after a 1-run loss in the last game. While she highlighted the importance of the match against Mumbai Indians, she praised the efforts of Ellyse Perry. In statements to the stations, she stated:
“Losing the last game by one run is not ideal, the whole conversation was that 1 run does not make us a bad team. We had actually played some good cricket this season and we just needed to keep our heads up. They got off to a good start but today there was little calm in the group from the time we had our meeting and it was a brilliant period (from Perry) to watch.
“Today’s match was very important for us to get going, we wanted to go out and play some good cricket and for Perry to come back and take those 6 wickets, it was something to see. We did not focus on other teams or other equations, we just wanted to win and be happy that everyone took a step forward in the crucial match,” he concluded.