After fighting with quality performances right through the tournament, our DC girls faced a heartbreaking defeat in the final against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. In the summit clash, Bangalore claimed a eight-wicket win to clinch their first-ever title.
Having won the toss, skipper Meg Lanning decided to bat first, a tactic which had been quite good. A similar story unfolded in the powerplay. Shafali went for her shots early on, chancing her arm against Sophie Molinuex for a six in the second over. Her ability to hit down the ground was on full display as she went on to smash a six off the bowling of Renuka Singh Thakur. Meg Lanning also smashed two beautiful boundaries in the same over to end the fourth over at 41/0.
Shafali further took the attack on Ellyse Perry and also smashed her for a six and a four. At the end of the powerplay, our score was 61 for none. However, the situation changed in the 8th over when Molineux took matters into her own hands. Shafali was caught in the cow corner area trying to go for a six.
Jemimah Rodrigues, who walked in next last for two balls only getting bowled. Alice Capsey was also dismissed in the same fashion of the very first ball. With three quick wickets, all picked by Molineux in the same over, Lanning and Marizanne Kapp tried to rebuild the innings. However, our skipper departed in the 11th over off the bowling of Shreyanka Patil.
The ball and the pitch started to play a trick or two with our batters struggling to get going on a pitch which seemed a bit difficult to adjust for anyone new who walked to bat. Asha Shobana dismissed Kapp and Jess Jonassen in the 14th over followed by Patil taking the wicket of Minnu Mani in the next over.
At 87/7, Radha Yadav’s cameo of 12 runs ensured we got past the 100-run mark. After her dismissal, Patil cleaned up the tail as our innings ended on 113. Patil finished with four scalps, Molineux with three and a direct hit run out while Shobana finished with a brace.
In response to that, Bangalore began their chase in a cautious way. Our bowlers also kept things tight and disciplined to keep the scoreboard pressure intact. After the first six overs, Bangalore were 25 for 0. However, Sophie Devine cut loose in the first over after the field restrictions and managed to hit three fours and a six.
A couple of overs later, experienced pro Shikha got the much important wicket of Devine for 32. At the halfway stage, Bangalore was placed at 56 for 1. Ellyse Perry and Mandhana batted for another five overs taking the score closer to hundred. Mandhana eventually fell for 31 in 15th over off the bowling of Minnu Mani.
Bangalore still needed 32 runs off 30 balls. Richa Ghosh who joined Perry next, batted quite smartly, rotating strike, a feature of Bangalore’s batting. Our bowlers fought hard to take the ball to the last over with Richa sealing off the run chase only off the third ball of the 20th. Perry stayed unbeaten on 35 while Richa for 17.
With that our tournament came to an end. Two finals in the two years would mark as a remarkable achievement for any team, however, with the heartbreaks of the final, this team will back in their quest for glory.
