One small step for RCB, one giant leap for women's cricket. By lifting their maiden Women's Premier League title, the Smriti Mandhana-led Royal Challengers Bangalore not only completed a first, but also caused an outpouring of emotion that many felt was reserved for their male counterparts. (More Sports News)
Mandhana's team was greeted with undeterred crowd support in its every single WPL 2024 fixture, be it in Bengaluru or Delhi. The spirited side ended up rewarding its fans with the trophy, and the expectant loyalists erupted in joy, releasing pent-up feelings of 16 years of seeing the men's outfit stutter before the final hurdle.
The sold-out Arun Jaitley Stadium bore witness to what is likely to be an epochal moment in the women's game, and the streets of Bengaluru were the primary proof point as delightful visuals emerged on social media.
The WPL 2024 final capped off what was an utterly eventful week in the world of sports. Let us recap all that went down across arenas from March 11 to 17, 2024.
Cricket
RCB's spin trio of Sophie Molineux, Shreyanka Patil and Asha Sobhana combined brilliantly to wreak havoc in the Delhi Capitals batting order in the WPL 2024 grand finale. With astounding cumulative figures of 9-46, Molineux, Patil and Sobhana powered the collapse of DC from 64 for no loss to 113 all out.
Though the chase was not a tricky one, it did go down to the last over. Captain Mandhana (31 off 39 balls), her opening partner Sophie Devine (32 off 27) and the in-form Ellyse Perry (35 off 37) all played vital hands and the big-hitting Richa Ghosh finished it off in style with a boundary. RCB won the title clash by eight wickets to keep DC as runners-up for the second season running.
Down Under, Australia pulled off a remarkable come-from-behind victory over their trans-Tasman neighbours to sweep the Test series 2-0. Chasing a target of 279 runs in Christchurch, the visitors were reeling at 80-5 before an 140-run sixth-wicket stand between Alex Carey (98 not out) and Mitchell Marsh (80) brought them roaring back and led them to yet another gritty triumph.
Back in the sub-continent, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are engaged in an intense ODI duel in Chattogram. The hosts won the first game by six wickets and the Lankans responded by beating them in the next one by three wickets. The deciding third game is currently underway and at the time of writing, SL were struggling at 196/7 after 45 overs in the first innings.
Elsewhere, Afghanistan clinched their ODI series against Ireland 2-0 in Sharjah, with a thumping 117-run win in the third match. The T20I leg followed post that and both sides won an encounter each to leave the series tantalizingly poised at 1-1. The deciding third bout will be played later on Monday (March 18).
In the Pakistan Super League, after a string of topsy-turvy results, Islamabad United and Multan Sultans emerged as the final contenders for the title. The Sultans coasted to their fourth consecutive PSL final with a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Peshawar Zalmi in the qualifier. United, on the other hand, had to fight their way through two eliminators to make their first PSL summit meet since 2018. The final is slated for Monday night.
Earlier in the week, Mumbai secured a staggering 42nd Ranji Trophy title, defeating Vidarbha by 169 runs at the Wankhede Stadium to reclaim the trophy after eight long years. Fittingly, veteran seamer Dhawal Kulkarni picked up the last wicket of Umesh Yadav to retire from first class cricket on a massive high.
Football
The highlight of the football week came at its fag end. Manchester United dug deep to edge out Liverpool 4-3 in the FA Cup quarter-finals, with an extra-time winner from Amad Diallo. The previous night, Manchester City had beaten Newcastle United 2-0 and Coventry had eked out a historic FA Cup last-four spot with a 3-2 win over Wolverhampton. Chelsea defeated Leicester City 4-2 to complete the semi-finals line-up.
In the UEFA Champions League (UCL), the quarter-finalists were decided and the draw unveiled too. The round of 16 return leg saw Arsenal sneaking past Porto 4-2 in penalties (1-1 on aggregate), Barcelona trouncing Napoli 3-1, Borussia Dortmund blanking PSV 2-0 and Atletico Madrid scraping through on penalties ahead of Inter Milan.
The UCL quarter-finals draw pits defending champions Manchester City against Real Madrid, Arsenal against Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain against Barcelona and Dortmund against Atletico Madrid.
Back home, the Indian Super League's 2023-24 drew ever closer to its business end. Mohun Bagan battled past Kerala Blasters 4-3 and FC Goa pipped Bengaluru FC 2-1 in a week that ended with Mumbai City on top of the table, marginally ahead of Mohun Bagan despite both possessing the same points (39).
Other Sports
Lakshya Sen did the heavy lifting at the All England Open Badminton Championships, standing tall while all the other Indian stars fell by the wayside. The 22-year-old from Almora reached the semi-finals on the back of a splendid campaign, before losing to Indonesia's Jonatan Christie in a tense, three-game clash.
Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz reigned supreme at the Indian Wells Masters, dismissing the challenge of Russia's fourth-ranked Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 in the men's singles final to take the title for the second year in a row. Meanwhile, the top-ranked Iga Swiatek annexed the women's singles title with a breezy 6-4, 6-0 win over Maria Sakkari.
