Nandni, Wolvaardt Shine as Delhi Capitals Halt RCB's Unbeaten WPL Run

On a slow pitch, Nandni stood out with her control and mastery of the slower ball to pick 13 wickets in the ongoing edition -- the most by an Indian pacer in WPL's history, as RCB were bowled out for 109. Apart from Nandni, Marizanne Kapp, Chinelle Henry, and Minnu Mani took two wickets each, while N. Sree Charani had a scalp as well in a disciplined bowling performance by DC.

Chasing a modest target of 110, DC reached the finish line with 4.2 overs to spare, a result that lifted them to second place in the points table and boosted their Net Run Rate. Shafali Verma gave the chase early impetus before falling alongside Lizelle Lee in successive overs from pacer Sayali Satghare.

Skipper Jemimah Rodrigues (24) and Laura steadied the innings with a composed 52-run stand. The duo took advantage of lapses in the field as RCB spilt catches and conceded boundaries through misfields. Though Jemimah departed before the chase ended, Marizanne Kapp (19 not out) joined Laura to complete the chase comfortably.

RCB, already assured of a playoff berth, were outplayed in all departments on the night, finishing with 109 all out -- their lowest total of the season. DC, meanwhile, celebrated a second successive win to strengthen their push for entering the playoffs.

Shafali gave Delhi a flying start in the opening over by striking three boundaries off Lauren Bell, as 16 runs came off it. But her dismissal in the second over, stumped off Sayali, checked DC's momentum. Two overs later, Lizelle also fell to Sayali as her slog-sweep was caught by deep backward square leg.

Laura Wolvaardt and skipper Jemimah Rodrigues rebuilt steadily, adding runs through controlled strokes and capitalising on RCB's lapses in the field. Rodrigues was dropped twice while finding her rhythm with successive boundaries off Arundhati Reddy, while Laura kept the scoreboard ticking with singles and occasional fours.

Though Jemimah was caught at extra cover off Radha Yadav, the Proteas duo of Marizanne and Laura ensured there were no further alarms. Marizanne struck clean boundaries off Lauren and Radha, while Laura launched a four and six each off Lauren and Georgia Voll. The chase was wrapped up in the 16th over when Marizanne swept Shreyanka Patil for four to seal a comprehensive win for DC and boost their net run rate.

Previously, skipper Smriti Mandhana showed brief composure by top-scoring with a 34-ball 38, before falling after the first timeout. It triggered a collapse for RCB on a tricky surface, as they posted their lowest WPL total. Radha was the only other batter to offer resistance, but her dismissal in the 17th over sealed RCB's fate of making a below-par total, where three batters got into double figures.

Inserted into batting first, Smriti and Grace Harris hit seven boundaries in 4.3 overs, before the latter was caught at backward point off a probing Marizanne. Smriti anchored the innings with six fours and a six, but her dismissal - slog-sweeping to square leg off Minnu - triggered a meltdown.

Georgia and Gautami Naik fell in quick succession, after being castled by Marizanne and Charani respectively, before Richa Ghosh's attempted drive was brilliantly caught by Laura at backward point. At 78/5, RCB were in deep trouble, and Radha briefly lifted hopes of posting a competitive total with a straight six off Minnu.

But her departure to Chinelle, after edging behind Lizelle, dashed all those hopes. After Chinelle took out Nadine de Klerk, Nandni then took charge in the closing overs by trapping Arundhati Reddy lbw, removing Shreyanka with a slower ball, and castling Sayali to finish with a well-deserved three-fer.

Brief scores:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru 109 all out in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 38, Radha Yadav 18; Nandni Sharma 3-26, Marizanne Kapp 2-17) lost to Delhi Capitals 111/3 in 15.4 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 42 not out, Jemimah Rodrigues 24; Sayali Satghare 2-18, Radha Yadav 1-10) by seven wickets

- IANS