WPL 2024 Eliminator Highlights: Mumbai Indians Women vs Royal Challengers Bangalore Women

Royal Challengers Bangalore Women qualified for the final of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 with a thrilling five-run win over Mumbai Indians Women in the Eliminator match on Friday, March 15 at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. After opting to bat first, RCB scored a low total of 135/6 in their allotted 20 overs courtesy of a half-century from Ellyse Perry.

Hayley Matthews (2/18), Nat Sciver-Brunt (2/18) and Saika Ishaque (2/27) took two wickets each for MI. In reply, Mumbai could only reach 130/6 in their 20 overs with captain Harmanpreet Kaur top-scoring with 33 (30). Shreyanka Patil was the pick of the bowlers for RCB with figures of 2/16 in four overs.

Also Read: WPL 2024, Eliminator: Royal Challengers Bangalore Women vs Mumbai Indians Women, 20th Match - Who Said What?

Let’s take a look at the highlights from Eliminator Match of WPL 2024:

1. Mumbai bowlers strangle RCB early on

After captain Smriti Mandhana won the toss and elected to bat first, she must’ve hoped to get her team off to a great start. However, the team failed to vindicate her decision as opener Sophie Devine (10 off 7) was cleaned up by Hayley Matthews in the second over itself. Captain Mandhana (10 off 7) also holed out to deep extra cover against Nat Sciver-Brunt while Disha Kasat was caught inside the circle by Pooja Vastrakar for a duck (0 off 7) against Saika Ishaque.

2. Ellyse Perry rescues RCB with the bat

After blowing away Mumbai with the ball in the previous fixture, it was time for Perry to shine with the bat. The Australian all-rounder walked to the crease with her team reeling at 20/1 in the second over. Wickets continued to tumble from one end while Perry built on her innings at the other. She went on to score her second half-century of the season playing a match-saving knock of 66 (50) clobbering eight fours and a six and guided her team to a respectable total.

Also Read: WPL 2024: Sophie Devine gets a reprieve as bails light up without falling during Eliminator match

3. Shreyanka Patil’s game-changing over

The right-arm off-spinner came on to bowl the last over of her spell as Mumbai required just 20 runs to win in the last three overs. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur (33 off 30) had the company of Amelia Kerr at the crease and the duo was confident of taking their team home. However, Patil kept things tight and only gave away just four runs off the first five balls prompting Kaur to go for a big shot on the final delivery. The MI captain came to the pitch of the ball and tried to smack Patil over long-on but holed out to Sophie Devine at long-on.

The over completely changed the course of the game as Sophie Molineux also went for just four runs in the penultimate over and dismissed Sajeevan Sajana. In the end, Asha Sobhana successfully defended 11 runs (12 to win) in the final over and sealed a five-run win for her side.

Here are some more highlights from the game: