Smriti Mandhana finally arrives to the WPL party but RCB fail to execute record-chase against Delhi

Of the few things that the Women’s Premier League missed last year was a signature Smriti Mandhana innings. One of the only two Indian captains – and likely the future Indian captain – underperforming, didn’t sit well. Few batters in world cricket are as soothing to watch as the southpaw and to have her deliver in the wham-bam setting of T20 cricket was always going to be paisa vasool.

It took 11 innings but the RCB captain finally arrived at the party on Thursday with a stylish 74. Her free-flowing innings, however, went in vain as Royal Challengers Bangalore lost to the Delhi Capitals by 25 runs, a result which may gnaw them for a while.

With 195 to chase down against a resourceful Delhi bowling attack, RCB needed their captain to get going from the start to have any shot at it. She’d do just that.

Marizanne Kapp had rendered the likes of Alyssa Healy and Tahlia McGrath ineffective a couple of nights ago with the new ball. Mandhana though decided to target her in the very first over, calling for an early change of plans from Delhi.

Off-spinners have got the better of her more than any other kind but a young Minnu Mani’s introduction didn’t bother Mandhana as she clobbered her for a couple more boundaries.

The Smriti storm 🌪️ has arrived in Bengaluru 🤩

FIFTY 🆙 for the opening wicket and #RCB are 52/0 after 6 overs.

Live 💻📱https://t.co/mKFymL1O3h#TATAWPL | #RCBvDC pic.twitter.com/TDxLG33cXF

— Women’s Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) February 29, 2024

DC captain Meg Lanning then tried her luck with a more experienced spinner in Jess Jonassen, going after the same angular advantage with her left-arm orthodox. But the boundaries continued to flourish and before long, Delhi were under the pump.

Arundhati Reddy served up a juicy full toss and was deservedly punished with a six. Shikha Pandey, known for her controlled line and length, offered another as Mandhana helped RCB across the 50 mark inside the powerplay.

It was quite the exhibition. What made it even more noteworthy was the lone enforcer nature of it. While Delhi were pushed to 194 by Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Kapp, and Jonassen sharing the load, the RCB chase largely hinged upon their captain’s strokeplay in the middle. At the other end from Mandhana veteran Sophie Devine struggled to time the ball for the majority of her innings. That RCB were still toe-to-toe at the halfway stage was credit to her.

Bengaluru: Royal Challengers Bangalore’s captain Smriti Mandhana celebrates her half century during a ‘Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024’ T20 cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore, at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)

Gone are the days when she can only be judged for her cover drive, which is glorious. The bat follows across as she holds her shape with nimble footwork and dissects even the most cramped off-side fields. On Thursday though, Mandhana almost resisted playing in front of square on the off side. Even the shot of a length delivery outside the off stump was picked and placed down the leg. “I have been working on increasing my shot range,” she’d admit later.

A couple of shots stood out. First, her first boundary off Kapp in the first over. A gentle whip over mid-wicket played by turning her blade at the last second to loft the ball over the infield. A six she hit later in her innings off the South African all-rounder was even better. Kapp was right on the money with her length – fuller – and angled it into the left-hander. Mandhana would shuffle across to get in line and generate enough power to a flick shot that sailed over the mid-wicket fence.

Such was Mandhana’s application on the night that even on the rare occasion she misjudged a delivery, the RCB captain made up for it with quick adjustments. Like advancing down the track off a possible stumping trap, not anticipating the extra turn down the leg side, before quickly flicking the ball down square leg for a single.

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On a night when she looked near perfect, it was perhaps cruel that an attempted drive on the offside was what led to her end. Backing away for a slower one heading for the offstump, she missed the ball and Kapp had the last laugh. As did Delhi, with the remaining RCB batting failed to finish the job.

“Not to depend on certain players and all the XI are good enough to win a game on their own,” had been the word in the pre-season camp, as Mandhana shared at the start of the game. But on Thursday, it was a one-woman show. One that RCB and WPL had waited for a long time.

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