Formidable Delhi Capitals, confident Royal Challengers Bangalore face-off in tantalising title clash

New Delhi, March 16 (IANS) The sell-out crowd at the Arun Jaitley Stadium will become witness to a tantalising title clash when the formidable Meg Lanning-led Delhi Capitals take on a confident Smriti Mandhana-captained Royal Challengers Bangalore to decide who lifts the glittering WPL 2024 trophy on Sunday.

DC, after becoming runners-up last year to Mumbai in WPL 2023, now have a golden chance to lift the title at their home ground. Their dominant form backs them to bag their first WPL title, as they finished at the top of the points table to book their place directly in the final.

Moreover, DC have come out on top in all of their four meetings against RCB in the WPL history. The batters and bowlers have fired in unison to drive Delhi’s unstoppable image to a crescendo, barring two losses in the competition.

Meg, Australia’s multiple times World Cup winning skipper, has led DC with aplomb, while amassing 308 runs from eight innings, and has got the support of big-hitting Shafali Verma from the other end at the top of the order. Jemimah Rodrigues and Alice Capsey have also been key run-making figures in Delhi’s success with the bat this season.

In the bowling department, fast-bowling all-rounder Marizanne Kapp and left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen have picked 11 scalps each, making them the joint highest wicket-takers for the team. Left-arm spinner Radha Yadav along with fast-bowlers Arundhati Reddy, Shikha Pandey and Titas Sadhu have also been dependable figures with the ball for DC too.

On the other hand, RCB endured a roller-coaster ride to enter the playoffs, but when it mattered the most, they didn’t give up and sealed their place in the final at MI’s expense. Their hopes will again be high on the trio of Smriti, Richa Ghosh, and Ellyse Perry, who’s leading the run-scoring charts for WPL 2024, with 312 runs.

On a night when rest of her team-mates struggled to find their rhythm with the bat, Ellyse took time before hitting boundaries and timing the ball well at regular intervals to top-score with 66 runs off 50 balls, which eventually proved to be decisive in firing RCB to a winning score.

RCB would hope that Smriti, Richa, Disha Kasat and Sophie Devine, who has been in woeful form, find their rhythm in the final. Maybe they would like to bring in Sabbhineni Meghana, who hasn’t played in last couple of matches, but did well in initial stages of the competition in the top-order.

Ellyse has also been equally effective with her swing and seam bowling to pick seven wickets, all of which have come against MI. In Friday’s Eliminator win, the spin quartet of Shreyanka Patil, Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham and Asha Sobhana played key roles in taking RCB to victory.

With the virtue of having gained a direct entry to the WPL 2024 final, DC had a longish break leading into Sunday’s final, while RCB have just a day’s break to shift their focus from the tight Eliminator win to the all-important title clash.

All said and done, the second edition of the WPL is going to end with a final which is between a formidable force and a confident unit. It will be a face-off between two teams with enough firepower in all departments and like to give every ball their best possible shot, which will give the sell out crowd its money’s worth on Sunday.

Squads

Delhi Capitals: Alice Capsey, Arundhati Reddy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Jess Jonassen, Laura Harris, Marizanne Kapp, Meg Lanning (captain), Minnu Mani, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Shafali Verma, Shikha Pandey, Sneha Deepthi, Taniyaa Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Titas Sadhu, Annabel Sutherland, Aparna Mondal and Ashwani Kumari

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Smriti Mandhana (captain), Asha Sobhana Joy, Disha Kasat, Ellyse Perry, Nadine de Klerk, Indrani Roy, Shraddha Pokharkar, Renuka Singh Thakur, Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil, Sophie Devine, Georgia Wareham, Ekta Bisht, Kate Cross, Shubha Satheesh, Sabbhineni Meghna, Simran Bahadur and Sophie Molineux