The victory propelled Delhi Capitals to the top of the points table, with RCB dropping to second.
Shafali Verma and Alice Capsey continued their good form with the bat, leading Delhi Capitals to victory and ending Royal Challengers Bangalore's unbeaten run in 2024.
Shafali scored her second consecutive half-century and shared an 82-run partnership for the second wicket with Capsey, helping Capitals reach 194 for 5. The match saw a total of 19 sixes, equalling the record for women's T20s. Shafali contributed four wickets and three went to Smriti Mandhana in an entertaining innings of 74 off 43 balls, which gave her team hope of achieving the highest successful run chase in the competition.
However, Capitals scored 70 runs in the final five overs of their innings, mainly due to a crucial 22-ball 48 partnership between Jess Jonassen and Marizanne Kapp. The pair also took five wickets collectively. Ultimately, RCB was unable to complete the task, extending their winless streak against the Capitals in this tournament.
Shafali and Capsey are leading the way
In the opening over of the match, Shafali hit a beautiful four by lofting Renuka Singh over the bowler's head. She was then dropped at cover by Shreyanka Patil. In the next over, she hit Sophie Devine for a six over deep midwicket, but Devine made the first breakthrough when Meg Lanning was run out for 11, trapping Georgia Wareham at deep backward point off a short, wide delivery. Ideally, Lanning should have taken the catch, which meant Devine could not even celebrate as Lanning trudged back to the pavilion. Shafali hit a 78m six over long-on off Sophie Molineux, taking Capitals to 45 for 1 at the end of the powerplay.
Capsey, who scored 75 in the opening match against Mumbai Indians, hit two fours in three balls off legspinner Asha Sobhana, one thumped over mid-on, and the other reverse-swept with power. Wareham joined the attack in the 10th over but was quickly hit for a six by Capsey towards deep midwicket. Capsey and Verma's partnership crossed the fifty-run mark two balls later with a reverse shot for four. However, Wareham redeemed herself with a brilliant piece of fielding. She prevented Shafali's certain six by leaping high into the air just inside the rope, catching the ball, and throwing it back into the outfield before crossing the boundary.
Shafali completed her half-century with consecutive sixes off Shreyanka but unfortunately got out on the next delivery while attempting a third consecutive six. She could only find Wareham waiting under it at deep midwicket.
De Klerk seizes her opportunity
Nadine de Klerk was called up to the RCB side to replace an ill Ellyse Perry. On her WPL debut, she removed Jemimah Rodrigues before she could pose a threat and claimed the prize wicket of Capsey for 46. But for the South African all-rounder, it wasn't all plain sailing. Capsey muscled her first delivery, a slower one outside off-stump, over deep midwicket for six. Additionally, Devine spilled a straightforward chance at long-on, which should have resulted in Capsey being out for 41.
Rodrigues was dismissed for a duck when she tried to clear mid-off and found Simran Bahadur waiting there. The highlight for de Klerk, however, came when a pinpoint yorker stucrashed into Capsey's stumps. Kapp piled on two sixes and a four in de Klerk's last over, but Devine broke the Kapp-Jonassen union in the penultimate over when Kapp miscued to Bahadur at long-off. Jonassen replaced fellow Australian Annabel Sutherland in the Capitals' line-up and scored an unbeaten 36 off 16 balls, including four fours and two sixes. Her six off the last ball, from Patil, took her side past the formidable 190-mark.
Mandhana excels, while the rest disappoint
Mandhana made an impressive start to RCB's pursuit, scoring 36 runs off 21 balls in the first four overs and dominating her partnership with Devine, who had faced only three balls until then. By the end of the powerplay, Mandhana had hit seven fours and two sixes, remaining unbeaten on 45 and taking RCB to 52 without loss. She reached her maiden WPL fifty by cutting Minnu Mani behind backward point and running two, prompting Devine to immediately break free from the shackles that had limited her to nine runs off 12 balls. Devine advanced down the pitch to hit consecutive sixes over long-on and deep midwicket, both measured at 87m. She fell in the next over, however, when she top-edged a full toss from Arundhati Reddy to Jonassen at mid-wicket.
Despite Smriti accessing all areas of the ground for her runs, RCB was still scoring below the required run rate, making it a challenging task. She placed Radha Yadav elegantly over cover to the boundary to momentarily get them back on track. Her sublime six off Kapp over deep midwicket moved her to 74. She was out on the very next delivery when Kapp took the pace of a length ball and pushed it back in front of a stump as Mandhana swung early and missed, having faced 43 balls.
Kapp picked up another important wicket, finishing with 2 for 35 from her four overs, when she had Richa Ghosh caught by Jonassen. Meghana was run out for 36, and Reddy had de Klerk caught cheaply next ball. RCB needed 31 off eight balls. Jonassen, Australia's death bowler deluxe, claimed three wickets in the final over. By that time, the result was beyond doubt.