Skipper Mandhana's heroics in vain as Delhi outshine RCB by 25 runs

Delhi Capitals braved a sensational battering from Smriti Mandhana to hand a fighting Royal Challengers Bangalore a 25run defeat in their WPL 2024 match on ThursdayMandhana fused power and grace to score 74 43b 10x4 3x6 but other batters did not quite make it big as Royal Challengers who were without indisposed star allrounder Elysse Perry ended up at 169 for nineThe Capitals made a challenging 194 for five as Shafali Varma mustered a 31ball 50 after they were asked to bat firstBut that total was under severe threat when Mandhana tore into the DC attack with panacheThey went off the blocks in an energetic fashion as Mandhana took it upon herself the task of leading her sides replyShe started with two fours off pacer Marizanne Kaap 238 and the lefthander only stepped up on the aggression from that pointMandhana faced 28 balls in the Power Play segment and hammered 45 runs as the home team reached an impressive 52 for no loss after six oversSophie Devine just had to watch all the fun from her end as Mandhana reached her firstever WPL fifty in just 32 balls when she took a quick two off offspinner Minnu ManiAlso ReadWriddhiman Saha says nothing can be done forcefully after IyerIshan snubDevine too had her own moments like when she moussed two successive sixes off Minnu one each over longon and midwicketBut the Kiwi batter soon fell to pacer Arundhati Reddy as her topedged pull ended in the hands of Jess JonassenHowever Mandhana continued her aggressive ways and smoked Kapp over midwicket for a six But the veteran South African had the last laugh as she uprooted the offstump with a slower delivery that beat Mandhanas tentative swishRicha Ghosh gave RCB a glimmer of hope biffing Arundhati for two consecutive pulled sixes but fell to the guile of Kapp whose climbing delivery curtailed the wicketkeeperbatters stayThereafter the task only grew steeper for RCB as leftarm spinner Jess Jonassen 321 produced an excellent spell RCB lost six wickets for 18 runs at that stageEarlier Verma 50 3x4 4x6 and Alice Capsey 46 33b 4x4 2x6 added 82 runs for the second wicket as the Capitals recovered from the early loss of skipper Meg LanningKapp 32 16b 2x4 3x6 and Jess Jonassen 36 not out 16b 4x4 2x6 also played blinders towards the end to give a fillip to the Capitals as they added 58 runs for the fifth wicket in a little over four oversVerma who was dropped on two by Shreyanka Patil off pacer Renuka Singh and Capsey went about their task shifting seamlessly through the gearsVerma gave a lot of steam to DC innings when she smashed leftarm spinner Sophie Molineux for a four and six off successive ballsCapsey was more innovative in her shot selection often bringing out reverse sweeps and scoops behind the stumperVerma reached her second fifty of this WPL with a six off offspinner Shreyanka over midwicketBut she fell in the very next ball pulling Shreyanka straight into the hands of Georgia Wareham at midwicketDe Klerk soon delivered a wonderful slow yorker to castle Capsey and Jemimah Rodrigues returned without contributing a single run as the Capitals slipped into a minislumpHowever Kapp and Jonassen took the RCB bowlers to the cleaners between 14th and 18th overs to ensure that DC would finish strongWith agency inputs