2024 WPL cricket tournament final in India
Cricket final
The 2024 Women's Premier League Final was played on 17 March 2024 at the Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium in New Delhi. The runner-up of previous season and table topper of this season, Delhi Capitals played in the final against the winner of this season's Eliminator, Royal Challengers Bangalore to decide the winner of the 2024 season.
Royal Challengers Bangalore won the match and the maiden title by defeating Delhi Capitals by eight wickets.
Background.
On 14 February 2024, the BCCI announced the schedule for the 2024 season of the Women's Premier League. Bengaluru and Delhi hosted the whole season with the playoffs and the Final being played at the Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium, New Delhi.
Road to the final.
Delhi Capitals began their campaign with a loss against Mumbai Indians, in their first game at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore. However, they regained momentum by securing victories against UP Warriorz and Royal Challengers Bangalore, propelled them forward with 4 points. Their winning streak continued as they won against Gujarat Giants and Mumbai Indians, accumulating a total of 8 points, as they moved to the Delhi leg of the league stage. Despite a loss against UP Warriorz, they managed to top the table with two successive wins against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Giants. They made it to the finals as the leaders of the points table at the end of the league stage.
Royal Challengers Bangalore commenced their league stage campaign with a win against UP Warriorz, followed by a victory against Gujarat Giants, before losing to Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians back to back. They had a mixed showing in the second segment of the league stage in Delhi, winning two games while losing two games to Gujarat and Delhi. They made it to the playoffs stage where they defeated Mumbai Indians in the eliminator game to make it to the finals.
Match.
Delhi Capitals innings.
Delhi Capitals Women won the toss and elected to bat first against Royal Challengers Bangalore Women. The innings kicked off with promising starts from Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma, but soon faced a setback when Lanning fell victim to a lbw delivery by Shreyanka Patil after scoring 23 runs. Verma, however, showcased a brilliant display of batting, scoring 44 runs off just 27 deliveries, including 2 fours and 3 sixes, before being caught by Georgia Wareham off Sophie Molineux's bowling. The batting order suffered a collapse with quick dismissals of Jemimah Rodrigues, Alice Capsey, and Marizanne Kapp, all falling without adding any significant score, and the Capitals at 81 for the loss of six wickets. Despite contributions from Radha Yadav, Minnu Mani, and Arundhati Reddy, the team struggled to build partnerships. For the Royal Challengers, Patil and Molineux claimed 4 and 3 wickets respectively, while Asha Sobhana also chipped in with 2 crucial dismissals.
Delhi Capitals Women managed to post a total of 113 runs in their allotted 20 overs, with Shikha Pandey remaining unbeaten on 5 runs. However, the innings was marked by a lack of substantial partnerships and a flurry of wickets, causing their run rate to stagnate around 6.10. Royal Challengers Bangalore Women's bowlers displayed a disciplined performance, and ensuring regular breakthroughs.
Royal Challengers Bangalore innings.
Chasing 114 to win, Royal Challengers Bangalore Women embarked on their innings with Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine at the crease. Mandhana anchored the innings with a knock of 31 runs off 39 deliveries before being caught by Arundhati Reddy off Minnu Mani's bowling. Devine, on the other hand, provided the much-needed impetus to the innings, scoring a brisk 32 runs off 27 deliveries before being dismissed lbw by Shikha Pandey. However, their partnership laid a solid foundation for the chase. Ellyse Perry took charge of the innings thereafter, displaying her experience and skill to remain unbeaten on 35 runs off 37 balls, steering her team closer to victory. Richa Ghosh scored a quickfire 17 runs off 14 deliveries, ensuring there were no hiccups towards the end of the innings. Royal Challengers Bangalore Women chased down the target with 3 balls to spare, finishing at 115/2 in 19.3 overs, clinching the championship title of the 2024 Women's Premier League.
Royal Challengers' Sophie Molineux was declared the player of the match.
Scorecard.
! colspan="8"|Delhi Capitals innings
! style="width: 200px"|Player
! style="width: 220px"|Status
! style="width: 60px; text-align: right"|Runs
! style="width: 60px; text-align: right"|Balls
! style="width: 40px; text-align: right"|4s
! style="width: 40px; text-align: right"|6s
! style="width: 70px; text-align: right"|Strike rate
Fall of wickets: 64/1 (S. Verma, 7.1 ov), 64/2 (J. Rodrigues, 7.3 ov), 64/3 (A. Capsey, 7.4 ov), 74/4 (M. Lanning, 10.4 ov), 80/5 (M. Kapp, 13.1 ov), 81/6 (J. Jonassen, 13.3 ov), 87/7 (M. Mani, 14.1 ov), 101/8 (R. Yadav, 16.2 ov), 113/9 (A. Reddy, 18.2 ov), 113/10 (T. Bhatia, 18.3 ov)
! colspan=8|Royal Challengers Bangalore bowling
! style="width: 200px"|Bowler
! style="width: 70px; text-align: right"|Overs
! style="width: 70px; text-align: right"|Maidens
! style="width: 70px; text-align: right"|Runs
! style="width: 70px; text-align: right"|Wickets
! style="width: 70px; text-align: right"|Econ
! style="width: 70px; text-align: right"|Wides
! style="width: 70px; text-align: right"|NBs
! colspan="8"|Royal Challengers Bangalore innings
! style="width: 200px"|Player
! style="width: 220px"|Status
! style="width: 60px; text-align: right"|Runs
! style="width: 60px; text-align: right"|Balls
! style="width: 40px; text-align: right"|4s
! style="width: 40px; text-align: right"|6s
! style="width: 70px; text-align: right"|Strike rate
Fall of wickets: 49/1 (S. Devine, 8.1 ov), 82/2 (S. Mandhana, 14.6 ov)
! colspan=8|Delhi Capitals bowling
! style="width: 200px"|Bowler
! style="width: 70px; text-align: right"|Overs
! style="width: 70px; text-align: right"|Maidens
! style="width: 70px; text-align: right"|Runs
! style="width: 70px; text-align: right"|Wickets
! style="width: 70px; text-align: right"|Econ
! style="width: 70px; text-align: right"|Wides
! style="width: 70px; text-align: right"|NBs
References.
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