Navi Mumbai: Skipper Smriti Mandhana led from the front with an elegant half-century as Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat laggards Delhi Capitals by eight wickets to register their fourth win on the trot in the Women’s Premier League here Saturday.
RCB continue to lead the five-team standings, while DC are at the bottom of the table with three defeats from four matches.
Explosive opener Shafali Verma struck a fine half-century to single-handedly guide DC to 166 all out after being sent in to bat.
Shafali (62 off 41 balls, 5x4s, 4x6s) played her shots in a counterattacking display after DC were down 74 for 6.
But Shafali’s effort was overshadowed by Mandhana’s knock as RCB overhauled the target in 18.2 overs.
RCB didn’t have the best of start to their chase, with in-form Grace Harris departing in the third over.
But thereafter, Mandhana (96 off 61 balls) and Georgia Voll (54 not out off 42 balls) held fort and shared a match-winning 142 runs for the second wicket to set the platform for RCB’s win with 10 balls to spare.
Mandhana was the aggressor among the duo as the left-handed opener played her shots. Voll, on the other hand, played the second fiddle.
The duo batted with composure and collected the runs with ease to set the platform for the comfortable chase.
While Mandhana decorated her knock with 13 boundaries and three hits over the fence, Voll, who played slowly initially, picked up the pace as the match progressed and hit five fours and two sixes during her 42-ball knock.
Mandhana fell four runs short of her century, brilliantly caught by debutant Lucy Hamilton off Nandani Sharma, but by then the damage was already done.
Earlier asked to bat, DC witnessed a torrid start, losing two wickets in the form of Lizelle Lee and Laura Wolvaardt in the opening over.
Skipper Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Niki Prasad and Minnu Mani too failed to help DC’s cause, departing cheaply as the Delhi outfit slumped to 74 for 6 in 8.1 overs.
Shafali, however, was at her destructive best, holding one end with her attacking batting. She shared 59 runs with Prasad (12), who played the second fiddle, to keep DC’s innings going.
Shafali played her array of shots to all parts of the ground, and brought up her fifty with a single of left-arm spinner Radha Yadav. From 10 for 4, she has kept DC in the game, counter-attacking which she knows best.
She then shared a vital 34 runs with Sneh Rana, who scored run-a-ball 22, to keep DC’s innings afloat before the latter was cleaned up by spinner Prerna Rawat in the 14th over.
Shafali got a reprieve when she was dropped by Gautami Naik in the 16th over at long-off off the bowling of Yadav.
Shafali finally departed when she was holed out by Prema Rawat of the bowling of Lauren Bell (3/26).
Towards the end, Hamilton (36 off 19) played a brilliant knock to give impetus to DC’s innings.
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