Vadodara, Jan 24 (IANS) Nandni Sharma starred with figures of 3-26 as Delhi Capitals produced a sensational bowling display to dismiss Royal Challengers Bengaluru for just 109 in their 2026 Women’s Premier League (WPL) game at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara on Saturday.
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. Apart from Nandni, Marizanne Kapp, Chinelle Henry, and Minnu Mani took two wickets each, while Sree Charani had a scalp as well.
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 Yadav was the only batter to offer some 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 Voll 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 Wolvaardt 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 Henry, after edging behind Lizelle Lee, 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 Patil with a slower ball, and castling Sayali Satghare 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) against Delhi Capitals
–IANS
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