Even though they weren’t in contention for the top three, defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru have left WPL 2025 in style with a strong all-around performance that eliminated Mumbai Indians from directly qualifying for the final. With a combined effort with both bat and ball, RCB edged out MI by 11 runs in the last league match of the season which gave the Capitals the chance to become finalists for the third consecutive year. This means MI will now play against the Gujarat Giants in the Eliminator. Read More Latest Update Click Here
For a team that needed to chase down 200 to qualify for the final, MI’s PowerPlay performance left much to be desired. While Hayley Matthews did put some runs on the board with a boundary and three fours from Ellyse Perry’s over, MI’s PowerPlay total was still not up to par. Sneh Rana’s dismissal of both openers capped MI’s score at 45 for 2 after the six over mark. Those two wickets shifted the burden on the shoulders of the seasoned duo of Nat Sciver-Brunt and captain Harmanpreet Kaur to turn things around for the chase.
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As home fans quickly learned, any hopes of a comeback for the team went out the window when Garth’s leg-cutter found the edge of Harmanpreet’s bat, resulting in the skipper’s dismissal for 20 runs off 18 balls. The only batsman from MI who attempted to resist was Nat Sciver-Brunt, who at least tried to revive her side’s hopes by scoring boundaries regularly. Sciver-Brunt notched another half-century this season and became the first player in WPL history to breach the 400-run mark after hitting Graham for a four and a six on consecutive balls. Although far too many runs were required during the final few overs, her strategy of swinging for the boundary ended up costing her, as a top edge left the team needing 71 runs off 31 balls.
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Things started to look up for Rana after she had the wicket of Yastika Bhatia. Now MI were sinking fast. By this time, the chase seemed to be fizzling out as RCB was constantly getting wickets towards the end. Still, Sajana’s tail enders helped out with some boundaries, but he did manage to give the bowling side a bit of a fright in the final over, although MI was still 28 runs short of winning. Perry’s horrendous evening with the ball had her pitching two wides alongside allowing two sixes that brought the number down to 12 off 3. At least the Australian all-rounder was able to save the day when it came to MI adding to their total.
It was a powerful finish that allowed RCB to score a strong 199, which proved to be a strong finish. After managing a mere 28 runs in four matches, Smriti Mandhana infused life to this game by giving RCB a great start with Sabbhineni Meghana. While Shabnim Ismail was taken on by Mandhana, Meghana went bonkers against Matthews to race to 26 off just 12 before the West Indian managed to get the last laugh.
The scoring rate did dip for a brief period after her dismissal, but Mandhana provided some lift when she hit Amelia Kerr for two sixes and a four, getting her team a much needed boost. Perry at the other end looked well below her fluent best and striking it at below 100, yet is shocked to see Mandhana making her half century with back to back boundaries.
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Any optimism the bowling team might have had regarding limiting RCB to a manageable total of runs were dashed when Richa Ghosh added some important runs. Perry also got around to scoring and began hitting boundaries. RCB’s blasting 39 runs from the last 12 balls caught MI off guard, but it was really the last couple overs of Georgia Wareham’s performance that did the damage. Wareham’s 31 untouchable runs inflicted, allowed her flaunt 5 fours and a six, all in stunning fashion, and in just 10 balls, infuriating MI. With the gap between the winning score and losing score being so wide, it can surely be said that Wareham was the
Brief scores: RCB W 199/3 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 53, Ellyse Perry 49*; Hayley Matthews 2/37) beat MI W 188/9 in 20 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 69; Sneh Rana 3/26, Kim Garth 2/33) by 11 runs
