Playing for the first time at DY Patil Stadium, RCB dished out a much-improved performance but Marizanne Kapp (32*) and Jess Jonassen (29*) held their nerves to take Delhi Capitals in 19.4 overs in their pursuit of 151.
Scorecard | As it happened
After opting to bowl, Delhi Capitals got early breakthroughs courtesy Shikha Pandey double-strike that saw RCB openers Smriti Mandhana (8) and Sophie Devine (21) fall cheaply.
But Ellyse Perry and Richa Ghosh came to the team’s rescue with their 74-run stand and lifted RCB to a fighting 150/4 after they were reduced to 63/3 in 12.4 overs. Perry went hammer and tongs against the DC bowlers as she smashed 5 sixes and 4 fours in her unbeaten 67-run knock.
Richa Ghosh came up with a superb cameo of 37 from 16 balls that changed RCB’s momentum.
Jonassen smacked Renuka Singh for a six and a four to finish off the game with two balls to spare, reaching 29 not out off 15 balls with four fours and one hit over the fence.
A 6⃣ & 4⃣ from @JJonassen21 to seal the chase in style 😎🔙 to 🔙 victories in the #TATAWPL for @DelhiCapitals 🙌🏻… https://t.co/cKErWJqEO1
— Women’s Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) 1678728028000
Delhi Capitals remained on the second spot in the points table with four wins giving them eight points, whereas RCB were pushed closer to elimination since they have endured a horror campaign in the inaugural WPL, losing all their five matches.
Delhi Capitals were rocked early by Megan Schutt, who cleaned up the dangerous Shafali Verma on the second ball of the innings to provide her side with a promising start.
But Alice Capsey took charge as she launched a flurry of boundaries to put Delhi on track. However, her charge was halted by Preeti Bose, who dismissed the right-handed batter for a well-made 38 off 24 balls with eight hits to the fence.
Capsey’s knock was crucial given that it gave her side much-needed momentum on a tough surface where the RCB batters had found life difficult for the majority of their first innings.
Delhi’s leadership pair of Meg Lanning and Jemimah Rodrigues could add only 25 runs before their stand was broken, in the ninth over.
Lanning danced down the track to hit Sobhana Asha over the ropes, but could not get the distance and Heather Knight grabbed a clean catch.
Dismissed for just 15 off 14 balls, the Orange Cap-holder Lanning recorded her lowest score in the league.
A crucial moment arrived in the game on the first ball of the 12th over, when Preeti Bose at point dropped a regulation catch to give a reprieve to Rodrigues, batting on 17.
However, Rodrigues perished in the 15th over after making 32 from 28 balls with three fours, caught by Richa Ghosh off Asha.
The remaining runs were knocked off by Kapp and Jonassen, who added 45 runs for the fifth wicket.
Earlier, the final six overs yielded 82 runs for RCB, with Perry finishing unbeaten on 67 from 52 balls with four fours and five sixes, and Ghosh producing her best knock in the tournament so far.
The right-handed India and RCB wicketkeeper-batter swatted three fours and as many sixes to make 37 from just 16 balls before a mishit ended her innings off Shikha Pandey.
Pandey was in her element on Monday night, snaffling an important couple of wickets at the top in the form of the out-of-sorts Smriti Mandhana (8) and the dangerous Sophie Devine (21).
Pandey also grabbed a sharp and athletic catch at short fine-leg to get rid of Heather Knight (11) off Tara Norris. However, Pandey dropped Perry on 29 off her own bowling, and the RCB batter made the most of the lifeline.
Kapp, coming off a brilliant five-for in Delhi’s last outing, could not get a wicket on Monday but bowled yet another impressive spell of 4-0-17-0.
(With PTI Inputs)