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That’s how brutal the sport is. Two captains, who play for the same national team, showed contrasting emotions at the end of a fascinating T20 clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, where Royal Challengers Bangalore beat defending champions Mumbai Indians by five runs in the tie to reach to his first final. in the Women’s Premier League. Mandhana was left in quite disbelief and then cried with happiness as she hugged her teammates at the end of the match, while Harmanpreet was seen fighting her emotions as she came out to shake hands with the RCB players and congratulate them on the victory.
At one stage, chasing 136, Mumbai Indians looked immensely comfortable with seven wickets in hand and a well-placed Harmanpreet at the crease alongside Amelia Kerr, who had just found her groove after smashing two boundaries against Georgia Wareham. The MI captain then hit two boundaries off Ellyse Perry as Mumbai headed into the final three overs with just 20 runs ahead.
However, RCB launched a late counterattack with Shreyanka Patil bowling a brilliant 18th over, where she conceded only four singles and accounted for Harmanpreet’s wicket. Sophie Molineux, on the other hand, emulated the same in the 19th over, dismissing S Sanjana for just 1 to make the equation a bit complicated for MI – 12 required in the last over.
As Mandhana had exhausted most of his key bowling options, he turned to Asha Sobhana for the final over. The leg-spinner conceded just four runs off the first three balls before edging Pooja Vastrakar, who missed the crazy leg break in the fourth over and was stumped.
With eight required off the last two balls, Amanjot Kaur managed only a single to put Kerr on strike. It was too much to ask of the New Zealand cricketer and Harmanpreet, who was watching helplessly from the dugout, knew it. However, with Kerr cutting a composed figure in the box, compatriot Sophie Devine approached Mandhana to help out on the field.
On the last ball, the leg-breaker landed before the shot from Kerr, who came out of the box for a lofted shot, but only managed a thick outside edge as the ball bounced towards the back spot. MI managed only one single and the defending champions were eliminated. RCB, its captain and its players were stunned after the breakout.
Mandhana let out tears of joy as she hugged her companions and celebrated with them. Harmanpreet’s tears showed contrasting emotions after seeing his team fall from a winning position.
“What a match. We still haven’t assimilated this feeling. Halfway through, we felt we were 20 runs short. But the way we bowled and fielded was incredible. 130 is a total where you are not sure whether to attack or defend.” . , but Asha’s last over was unreal,” Mandhana said at the post-match presentation.
RCB will face Delhi Capitals in the final of WPL 2024 at the same venue on Sunday.
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