Wolvaardt and Capitals bowlers deal RCB their first WPL defeat

A solid batting performance from South African captain Laura Wolvaardt and an all-round bowling performance from the Delhi Capitals Women helped them pick up a massive scalp as they dealt the Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women their first Women’s Premier League loss of the season at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara on Saturday night.

RCB went into the match top of the table, having won all five of their matches, while the Capitals were fourth after two wins and three defeats, but it was the Delhi side that came out victorious to move them up the log and boost their playoff prospects.

The Capitals bowlers were the stars of the show, as after winning the toss and choosing to bowl, they restricted RCB to a poor 109 all out, with their captain Smriti Mandhana, 38 off 34 balls (6x4; 1x6) top scoring, while Georgia Voll (11) and Radha Yadav (18) were the only other batters to reach double figures.

Nandani Sharma, 3-26, was the key wicket taker, but she was superbly backed up by Marizanne Kapp, 2-17, Chinelle Henry, 2-22, and Minu Manni, 2-18.

The Capitals' chase was then straightforward, with it spearheaded by Wolvaardt, 42no off 38 balls (4x4; 1x6), while captain Jemimah Rodrigues (24), Kapp, 19no off 15 (3x4), and Shafali Verma, 16 off eight (4x4), all chipped in to get them over the line with 26 balls to spare.

In the match, the RCB innings got off to a decent enough start as openers Grace Harris (9) and Mandhana scored 36 in the opening five overs.

DECISIVE KAPP

But Kapp was handed a third over in the powerplay, the last of it, and it paid off as she found a leading edge on Harris’ bat, with the ball looping to Wolvaardt at backward point with the score 36 for one.

Mandhana and Voll then shared 25 for the second wicket, and just as it was looking like they’d reach the midway point in a solid position, Mani stepped up and had the captain caught by Niki Prasad at deep square leg, leaving them on 65 for two at the 10-over mark.

But that wicket started a collapse that saw RCB lose nine wickets for just 47 runs as they fell to a way below par score, with Yadav the only batter showing any sort of fight.

The Capitals chase git off to a quick start thanks to Verma thumping some early boundaries, but both openers fell to Sayali Satghare in the first four overs, as Verma was stumped by keeper Richa Ghosh and Lizelle Lee (6) was caught by Voll at deep backward square leg, leaving them on 24 for two.

But Wolvaardt and Rodrigues steadied the ship with a 52-run third-wicket partnership off 41 balls to set the platform, aided by some decidedly average fielding as a few catches went down and some lucky boundaries were scored.

Rodrigues finally perished in the 12th over, caught by Mandhana at cover off the bowling of Yadav, with the score 76 for three, but that just brought in Kapp, and along with Wolvaardt, they powered their side home with an unbroken 35-run stand.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU WOMEN: Grace Harris, Smriti Mandhana (capt), Georgia Voll, Gautami Naik, Richa Ghosh (wk), Nadine de Klerk, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Sayali Satghare, Lauren Bell

DELHI CAPITALS WOMEN: Shafali Verma, Lizelle Lee (wk), Laura Wolvaardt, Jemimah Rodrigues (capt), Marizanne Kapp, Niki Prasad, Chinelle Henry, Sneh Rana, Minnu Mani, Sree Charani, Nandani Sharma