Royal Challengers Bangalore Vs Delhi Capitals, WPL 2024: Jess Jonassen Holds Nerves As DC Beat RCB By 25 Runs - As It Happened

Smriti Mandhana & Co. are set to take on Meg Lanning's Delhi Capitals at their home venue in Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium. RCB have won the first two home games and will also be eyeing the crucial victory against DC on Thursday. RCB is the only team that is unbeaten in this WPL season and Delhi Capitals, who are currently in the third position in the points table, must be willing to disappoint the hosts. Lanning and Shafali Verma are in sublime form. Marizanne Kapp and Radha Yadav also performed well in the last match. For RCB, everything has gone as planned. Every player has contributed as well. Renuka Thakur Singh and Asha Sobhana have done well with the ball whereas Sophie Devine, Sabbhineni Meghana and the captain herself contributed to the win when required. Now, the two teams will test each other at Chinnaswamy Stadium in match 7 of WPL 2024. Follow the live scores and updates of the RCB-W Vs DC-W match of WPL 2024 here (Streaming | Full Coverage | Schedule And Points Table)

Delhi Capitals Women: Meg Lanning(c), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Alice Capsey, Marizanne Kapp, Annabel Sutherland, Arundhati Reddy, Minnu Mani, Taniya Bhatia(w), Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav, Titas Sadhu, Jess Jonassen, Laura Harris, Ashwani Kumari, Aparna Mondal, Sneha Deepthi

Royal Challengers Bangalore Women: Smriti Mandhana(c), Sophie Devine, Sabbhineni Meghana, Ellyse Perry, Richa Ghosh(w), Georgia Wareham, Sophie Molineux, Shreyanka Patil, Simran Bahadur, Asha Sobhana, Renuka Thakur Singh, Indrani Roy, Shubha Satheesh, Shraddha Pokharkar, Disha Kasat, Nadine de Klerk, Kate Cross, Ekta Bisht

Royal Challengers Bangalore Women have won the toss and have opted to field

Teams:

Delhi Capitals Women (Playing XI): Meg Lanning(c), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Alice Capsey, Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen, Arundhati Reddy, Minnu Mani, Taniya Bhatia(w), Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey

Royal Challengers Bangalore Women (Playing XI): Smriti Mandhana(c), Sophie Devine, Sabbhineni Meghana, Nadine de Klerk, Richa Ghosh(w), Georgia Wareham, Sophie Molineux, Shreyanka Patil, Simran Bahadur, Asha Sobhana, Renuka Thakur Singh

The pitch looks good and easy to bat on. The square boundaries are comparatively smaller. The Pitch has some cracks that might help the fast bowlers with sudden swings. Renuka Thakur Singh and Marizanne Kapp will be key to RCB's success on this pitch. DC batters can take some time to adjust and know the nature of the pitch.

Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma started the DC batting with Renuka Thakur Singh opening the bowling attack for RCB. The atmosphere is electrifying. RCB have lost a review on the first ball. With two wides and a boundary, Renuka conceded eight runs in total.

DC - 8/0 (1)

Devine does not celebrate, but she has given RCB their maiden wicket. Pushed the backward point back onto the rope, leaving the cover open, and strengthening the leg-side field for the short ball. The line was outside off, and Lanning looked for the uppercut, which he struck rather well but took up Wareham at deep backward point.

DC - 32/1 (5)

Asha Sobhana came to bowl the eighth over and Alice Capsey hit two boundaries to extract 11 runs from the over.

DC - 60/1 (8)

Shafali Verma smashed back-to-back sixes off Shreyanka Patil to complete her half-century. She tried to repeat the same on the next delivery but lost her wicket. Patil got the last laugh.

DC - 110/2 (12)

Jemimah wants to get over the top with three dot balls, but she ends up holed out to mid-off. It wasn't full enough for the trip, so she sliced it in the air, down to mid-off, where Simran clutched it beside her chest height. A couple of important wickets, and RCB is making a comeback.

DC - 111/3 (13)

That's a fantastic ball, and de Klerk is overjoyed - it was extremely full and at the base of the off-stump; the yorker can't get any better than this - Capsey is very late in bringing the bat down, and she loses her off-stump. RCB continues to fight back.

133/4 (16)

After Marizanne Kapp's dismissal, Jess Jonassen shifted gears and made 16-ball 36 not out to take the score to 194 runs in the full 20 overs. Arundhati Reddy also made 10 not out with two fours.

DC - 194/5 (20)

Brief Score: DC - 194/5 (20)

Shafali Verma - 50 (31), Alice Capsey - 46 (33) | Sophie Devine: (3-0-23-2)

Sophie Devine and Smriti Mandhana are here to chase the mammoth total. Marizanne Kapp started with the first over and Mandhana hit two fours to open the runs account for RCB.

RCB - 9/0 (1)

RCB captain Smriti Mandhana has managed seven fours and two sixes so far in her 45-run inning. Sophie Devine is unbeaten on 6 off 8 balls. The duo has completed 50-run stand as well for the first wicket and Mandhana is looking desperate to send every second delivery towards the boundary.

RCB - 52/0 (6)

Smriti Mandhana completed her maiden WPL fifty with a double off Minnu Mani in the eighth over. Sophie Devine smashed two back-to-back sixes in her over to finish the over.

RCB - 75/0 (8)

It was a high full-toss. The ball's trajectory suggested that it is dropping below the waist. Devine is already on her way. She'd be disappointed. This was meant to be crushed, and all she could do was a massive top-edge. Jonassen settled around mid-wicket and took it easily.

RCB - 78/1 (9)

Smriti, the in-form player for RCB, is out, and Kapp is overjoyed. They really needed this wicket - a change of pace from the outstanding South African all-rounder, who slid in the slower short ball at the stumps - Smriti backed away and was through with the drive, but she missed and the off-stump fell to the ground.

RCB - 112/2 (12)

Kapp was brought back, and she's given Capitals another significant blow - Richa was shaping for the pull, but she gets into an awkward position and only achieves a massive top-edge - Jonnassen dashes in from cover-point and takes the catch.

RCB - 144/3 (16)

Wareham succumbs to the strain and holes out to long-on with a longer length ball at the stumps, Wareham retreated away and failed to got the hold of the lofted shot, which went high and down long-on's neck. Capsey made a simple catch.

RCB - 150/4 (17)

With two wickets in one over, the equation for RCB have come down to 28 runs in the last over. Arundhati Reddy held her nerves and got the set batter S Meghana run-out first, then dismissed Nadine de Klerk.

RCB - 167/6 (19)

With 28 runs needed in the last over, Jess Jonassen dismissed three batters and gave just two runs. Delhi Capitals won by 25 runs against RCB and handed the home team their first defeat of the season.

RCB - 168/9 (20)

We did not meet expectations with our bowling in the first two matches. However, if we have a terrible day in such a competition, we must recover aggressively. They were plus 15, but we were still in the game, and the conversation was that if Sophie and I batted till the 14th over, we would have a chance. Women's cricket is advancing, and I've been focusing on improving my stroke range. We won't be too critical; we didn't bowl or batted as well as we would have liked; this happens, but we move on.

It was a fair wicket with a fast outfield and short boundaries, so you'd expect a high-scoring game. I believe we performed an outstanding job with the bat, keeping the momentum going. Shafali, Capsey, Kapp, and JJ kept us ahead with the left-right combo working. I would tell, "Play to your strengths." When defending 200, you must retain your cool and be calm. You'll have to remain in the match, and I thought the girls performed well to get back into it. Both players have good experience (Jonassen was chosen over Sutherland), but it's difficult to pin down four of them - JJ can keep her nerve and is superb with both bat and ball.

Tonight, I was anxious because I assumed you'd have to bowl on this wicket. Smriti was striking the ball beautifully and scored in all areas, so I simply backed myself. I'd want to play right down the ground. We batted effectively as a bunch. Bowling pace on that wicket caused it to sit up and be slapped, so we had to bowl short and employ more variations.

RCB was the only team to not lose a single match this season and Delhi Capitals made that happen as well. RCB lost the match by 25 runs as DC dominated in all departments. We will be taking your leave. See you tomorrow. Take care, Goodnight. Bye!