New Delhi, Mar 17 (UNI) The Women’s Premier League 2024 final between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) commenced with DC winning the toss and choosing to bat at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Sunday.
Meg Lanning, leading DC, expressed confidence in their batting lineup and the pitch conditions.
“We will bat tonight, feel that’s the best chance to win the game. The pitch looks good and we’ll have to bat well. What has happened before is irrelevant, we’re up against a great team and we need to play well. We’re going with the same team,” she said after the toss.
On the other hand, Smriti Mandhana, leading RCB, acknowledged the challenge of bowling first but emphasized the importance of executing their plans effectively.
“We would have batted first as well, but I think it doesn’t really go well, we will have to bowl well, stick to our plans and play some good cricket. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs so far, but we need to be at our best tonight.
This is the 4th match on the same wicket, the last game, it played slow. We’ve one change – Meghana comes in for Pokharkar,” she said.
RCB’s journey to the final included a hard-fought victory against Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Eliminator.
Despite a shaky start with early wickets, RCB’s Ellyse Perry’s brilliant knock of 66 runs stabilized their innings, leading to a total of 135/6 in 20 overs.
MI, in pursuit of 136 runs, fell short, managing only 130/6 in their allotted 20 overs. Harmanpreet Kaur was the top scorer for MI with 33 runs, while Shreyanka Patil starred with the ball for RCB, claiming two crucial wickets.
Other RCB bowlers, including Perry, Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham, and Sobhana Asha, also contributed with a wicket each.
With both teams gearing up for the showdown, the stage is set for an exciting contest at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.