Ellyse Perry claimed a superb 6-15 in a brilliant display of medium-pace bowling and scored a fine unbeaten 40 to help Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defending champions Mumbai Indians by seven wickets with 30 balls to spare in Match 19 of Women's Premier League (WPL) 2024 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.
With this win RCB clinched their spot in the Playoffs, harming the chances of defending champions Mumbai Indians clinching a direct berth in the Final of the WPL.
Mumbai Indians' defeat brought glee to table-toppers Delhi Capitals as they now need to win their next match against Gujarat Giants -- victory will help Delhi climb to 12 points and clinch their place in the final. A big defeat for Delhi Capitals will leave them at 10 points and probably behind Mumbai Indians in Net Run Rate.
Mumbai Indians ran into trouble after RCB won the toss and elected to field first. They raised 43 runs for the first wicket when Hayley Matthews got out for 26, caught by Perry off Sophie Devine.
Perry then cleaned up Sajeevan Sajana with a length delivery outside off for 30. Mumbai Indians then were left stunned when skipper and star batter Harmanpreet Kaur played-on, on an inside edge off an expansive drive off Perry crashing into the stumps for a duck.
The two wickets in two deliveries in the ninth over left Mumbai Indians at 65/3 and when Amelia Kerr was out four runs later in the 11th over. The procession continued as they kept losing wickets as Perry claimed six wickets in a row to finish with 6-15. Mumbai Indians could manage only a paltry 113, leaving RCB in a strong position.
In reply, RCB got off to a poor start, losing Sophie Molineux was out for nine runs with 22 runs on the board. Skipper Smriti Mandhana too fell cheaply, out for 11 off 13 balls. Sophie Devine too got out early and RCB were in trouble at 39/3 in the seventh over.
Ellyse Perry and Richa Ghosh raised 76 runs for the fourth wicket to help RCB win the match.
Perry scored an unbeaten 40 off 38 balls and Richa Ghosh scored 36 off 28 balls as RCB won the match with a lot to spare. Perry struck five boundaries and one six while Richa Ghosh, who got an early reprieve when she was dropped by Nat Sciver-Brunt, struck four boundaries and two sixes. They completed the half-century of their fourth-wicket partnership in 43 balls, with Perry contributing 15 runs and Richa Ghosh 28.
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