A thrilling contest at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium saw the DC girls register a comprehensive 25-run win against Royal Challengers Bangalore to move to the top of the table. Recording our second win on the trot, Meg Lanning’s side rode on the all round performances of Jess Jonassen and Marizanne Kapp, alongside strong outings from Shafali Verma and Alice Capsey. 

 

 

 

Jonathan Batty made one change, replacing Annabel Sutherland with Jonassen in the playing XI. The move worked wonders as the Aussie all-rounder played a blitzkrieg innings, scoring 36 not out off 16 balls while shining with the ball with figures of 3/21 from her four overs. 

We were put into bat after losing the toss and the opening duo of Shafali and Lanning got to work to set up a good platform. But with 28 runs on the board, the Australian star fell to Sophie Devine in the fifth over. Capsey walked in to replace the team captain and showed off her intent from the very first ball by hitting a boundary to begin her innings. 

After ending the powerplay at 45-1, the English cricketer began to take charge and hit two boundaries against Asha, while Shafali continued to match her teammate’s aggression, leading to the duo building a quick 50-run partnership with the score sitting at 84-1 on the halfway mark.

 

 

Capsey welcomed Georgia Wareham and de Klerk with a six. On the other end, Shafali got to her half century with two back to back sixes before falling for 50 in the 12th over to end the 82-run partnership off 43 balls. Jemimah Rodrigues fell without troubling the scorers, with the scoreboard poised at 111-3 after 13 overs. 

Capsey’s refreshing counter attack was halted after she was dismissed on the last ball of the 15th over. Following the wicket, fans were in for a treat as Kapp began to play the perfect cameo, scoring 32 runs off 16 balls. Incoming all-rounder, Jess also tonked a couple of sixes and four fours during her 36 not out off 16. Arundhati too chipped in with 10 runs off four deliveries to propel our final score to 194-5. 

 

 

The second innings saw Royal Challengers Bangalore get off to a flying start as Smriti Mandhana went hammer and tongs to take on the run-chase. It was especially the Southpaw’s aggressive intent which her side propelled to 52-0 at the end of the powerplay.

The hosts seemed to cruise the score, with Sophie Devine and Mandhana going strong. However, Arundhatti Reddy claimed the wicket of Devine for 23, to get the breakthrough.

With the scoreboard sitting at 85-1 at the end of 10 overs, Bangalore seemed to be well positioned, and with Mandhana going past her fifty and still continuing on her marryway, it seemed all lost hopes for DC. However, the tide started to change as Kapp got the wicket of Mandana for 74 in the 12th over, leaving them at 112-2. 

 

 

Shikha Pandey and Jess Jonassen conceded just a combined 11 runs off the 13th and 14th overs to slow things down. The quiet overs pushed the required rate over 12 runs per over, with RCB needing 72 off 36 balls. 

The last five overs brought the equation down to 57 off 30 as Kapp gave the team yet another important break by dismissing Richa Ghosh, who had smashed two sixes and was looking set. Meghana looked to shift gears bringing down the equation to 51 off 24 balls. 

Shiikha Pandey got rid of Georgia Wareham in the 17th over, leaving the opponents requiring 45 off the last 3 overs. It was all about Jess from here on, as she conceded just 5 runs off the 18th over leaving RCB needing a bit too from the last two. 

Reddy’s penultimate over saw RCB lose the wickets of Meghana and de Klerk before Jess claimed the wickets of Sophie Molinux, Simran Bahadur, and Asha Sobhana in the last over to hand the team a comfortable 25-run win.  

 

 

The team is in high spirits following the mammoth win and will be eager to continue the winning streak. Our next challenge sees us take on against the Gujarat Giants on February 3, 2024.