Dominant DC halt RCB's perfect start

Led by an all-round bowling display, Delhi Capitals clinched their third win of the ongoing WPL season, and in doing so, ended Royal Challengers Bengaluru's five-match unbeaten run in the tournament.

The set-up for a dominating bowling display by Capitals was led by Marizanne Kapp, who yet again kept a check on the scoring rate in the powerplay apart from dismissing Grace Harris and Georgia Voll cheaply. She could've even had Smriti Mandhana trapped legbefore on 4 in her opening over, but she had overstepped, allowing the RCB skipper another life.

Mandhana, who had struggled her way to only five runs off the first 13 balls, found some momentum to her innings late in the third over, when she caressed a couple of boundaries, and followed it up immediately by taking apart Nandni Sharma two overs later for a couple of more boundaries.

Despite the movement not allowing for easy scoring, RCB had managed a steady start with 36 runs in five overs, before Grace Harris's leading edge was caught by Laura Wolvaardt at backward point. That was the start of RCB's collapse.

Just when it seemed like Mandhana was able to control the innings on a tricky surface, which was holding on a bit, she holed out to the deep square leg fielder while attempting to go after Minnu Mani who returned to the side for this match. She snapped two wickets to ensure the pressure applied by Kapp up front was sustained through the middle overs. By the 13th over, she had Richa Ghosh slicing to Wolvaardt at backward point, and reduced RCB to 78 for 5.

Radha Yadav attempted to counter attack by making good use of her feet against the spinners, but she was surprised by Chinelle Henry's short delivery which took the edge to the 'keeper. Henry and Nandni Sharma made good use of their slower ball variations on a surface where the ball was keeping a bit low and the batters couldn't time as easily in their bid to play the big shots.

Like Kapp and Mani, Henry too bagged a brace, while Nandini snapped three as RCB's innings folded up for 109.

In response, Shafali Verma cracked four boundaries to help Capitals to a brisk start. However, her inning was cut short by a beautiful piece of glovework from Richa Ghosh, who had her stumped. Sayali Satghare struck again in her next over, when Lizelle Lee's sweep went straight to the hands of the deep square leg fielder.

RCB could have bagged another wicket in the powerplay but Satghare put down a regulation catch at short third when Jemimah was batting on 4. Lauren bell, who was the bowler, went wicketless in the match - for the first time this season.

The Capitals skipper made them pay for the drop, crafting her way to a 26-ball 24. The 52-run stand she forged with Wolvaardt for the third wicket formed the backbone of Capitals' run-chase, and all but ended Capitals' hopes. Both Rodrigues and Wolvaardt were measured with their attack, calculating their chances and only putting away deliveries that were too short or slightly wide.

Rodrigues fell in the 12th over eventually while mistiming a shot in her bid to go inside-out over extra cover. Nonetheless, Kapp and Wolvaardt ensured there was no way back for RCB despite the strike. They wiped out the remaining runs in the next four overs. With this win, Capitals have moved to the second spot on the points table.

Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 109 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*, Jemimah Rodrgiues 24; Sayali Satghare 2-18) by 7 wickets