With just two runs needed to win off the final ball, Royal Challenger Bangalore’s Richa Ghosh was run out for 51 after waging a lone battle as Delhi Capitals won by one run in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 and secured their place in the Playoffs on Sunday.
After Delhi Capitals elected to bat first and post a competitive total of 181/5 thanks mainly to a 36-ball 58 by Jemimah Rodrigues and 48 off 32 balls by Alice Capsey, RCB reached 93/3 in the 12th over thanks to a 32-ball 49 by Ellyse Perry, who too was run out on the brink of scoring a half-century.
Sophie Devine was also out after scoring 26 off 16 balls before RCB lost a couple of wickets. Ghosh waged a lone battle as she kept Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), taking them to the final over with 17 needed off six balls.
Richa Ghosh hammered a six off Jess Jonassen off the first ball. A dot-ball later, Disha Kasat was run out as she sacrificed herself to take a second run and give Richa Ghosh the strike. The all-rounder scored two runs off the fourth delivery and then struck a huge six off the next delivery to bring up her fifty.
With two runs needed off the final ball, Ghosh failed to connect and sliced it straight to the backward point where Shafali Verma picked the ball and threw it to Jonassen, and she dislodged the stumps with Ghosh short of the crease.
RCB had lost Smriti Mandhana early for five, trapped LBW by Capsey. Fellow opener Sophie Molineux (33, 30b, 5×4) and Ellyse Perry (49 off 32 ball, 7×4, 1×6).
Earlier, Jemimah Rodrigues scored a superb half-century 0ff 26 balls, hitting eight boundaries and raising fifty runs for the third wicket off 31 balls while Alice Capsey played able foil as they helped Delhi Capitals reach a defendable total. Shreyanka Patil claimed four wickets for 26 runs for RCB.
Brief scores:
Delhi Capitals 181/5 in 20 overs (Jemimah Rodrigues 58, Alice Capsey 48; Shreyanka Patil 4-26) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 180/7 in 20 overs (Ellyse Perry 49, Richa Ghosh 51; Marizanne Kapp 1-30) by 1 run.
