The beauty and brutality of sports i.e. two captains representing the same country displayed contrasting emotions at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. Smriti Mandhana led Royal Challengers Bangalore(RCB) to defeat the defending champions Mumbai Indians(MI), led by Harmanpreet Kaur by 5 runs in the Eliminator round eventually leading to their entry in the finals of Women’s Premier League 2024.
Mandhana was in a state of disbelief and later in tears of happiness as she congratulated her teammates at the end of the match in contrast to Kaur who was seen visibly upset and disappointed.
While chasing a total of 135/6, MI looked comfortable at one point with seven wickets in their hands and a well-set Harmanpreet alongside Amelia Kerr, who had just found her rhythm. Though MI failed, thanks to the astounding bowling performance by Ellyse Perry (1/29) and Shreyanka Patil (2/16).
In the first inning, Perry’s 66 runs in 50 balls were also very significant in RCB’s total score as their top order was already sitting inside the pavilion with 24 runs and 3 wickets. In reply, MI only managed to score 130 runs with the loss of 6 wickets and the required momentum was lost completely after Kaur got out for 33 in the 18th over.
“What a match. Still, this feeling has not sunk in. At the halfway mark, we felt we were 20 runs short. But the way we bowled and fielded was amazing. 130 is a total where you are not sure whether to attack or defend, but the last over from Asha was unreal,” Mandhana said in the post-match presentation.
Now RCB is going to face Delhi Capitals in the WPL 2024 final at the same venue on Sunday. Ahead of the main clash, Mandhana was asked about the comparisons with the RCB men’s team that lost the finals in 2016. “Firstly, I think this year was really important for us to connect to the whole franchise with what’s happened with the men, sometimes it puts pressure. So we were just thinking that we are two seasons into it, so let’s not put too much stress. So not really co-relating with what happened with the men’s team.”
