Delhi Capitals have secured their place in the WPL 2025 playoffs, becoming the first team to qualify after a decisive victory over Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Shafali Varma (80*) and Jess Jonassen (61*) delivered outstanding unbeaten performances, forging a 146-run partnership for the second wicket. Their powerful batting display led the Capitals to a commanding nine-wicket win with 4.3 overs to spare.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s innings heavily relied on Ellyse Perry, who scored an unbeaten 60. Aside from Perry, only Raghvi Bist managed a significant contribution with 33 runs. This loss concludes a disappointing home leg for RCB, as they suffered defeats in all four matches played in Bengaluru.
Smriti Mandhana, after losing her fourth consecutive toss, was once again asked to bat first in Bengaluru. Continuing the trend seen at this venue, Delhi Capitals’ opening bowlers Marizanne Kapp and Shikha Pandey exploited early movement, keeping the RCB openers under pressure. Despite Pandey conceding a boundary off a loose delivery to Mandhana initially, she quickly adjusted her length and troubled the batter with outswingers. Pandey eventually dismissed Mandhana, inducing a poke away from her body that was caught at wide slip.
Danielle Wyatt-Hodge and Ellyse Perry initially adopted a cautious approach against the swing bowling but quickly accelerated once spin was introduced. Both batters attacked Jess Jonassen, each hitting a six down the ground. However, Meg Lanning dropped Wyatt-Hodge at cover during this period. Boundaries continued to flow, but shortly after the timeout, Kapp dismissed Wyatt-Hodge, shifting the momentum back in favor of the Capitals.
The mounting pressure resulted in Raghvi Bist miscuing a shot, which was dropped by Niki Prasad in the deep, highlighting some sloppy fielding from the Capitals. Perry continued to be the main aggressor, taking 14 runs off Minnu Mani’s 11th over, while Bist contributed with a six over deep mid-wicket off Sutherland. Despite RCB occasionally finding the boundary, the Capitals managed to restrict scoring with dot balls for the majority of the overs. Perry reached her fourth half-century of the tournament as RCB aimed for a competitive total in the final overs.
Debutant Nallapureddy Charani bowled a tight over, which included Perry surviving a close LBW appeal. The bowler also missed an opportunity to run out Bist on the next delivery due to a fumble. The Capitals’ fielding errors continued as Sarah Bryce missed a stumping chance off Bist, and the batter capitalized by hitting a six to end the over.
Bist’s luck finally ran out as she was stumped off Charani in the following over. Charani then dismissed Richa Ghosh a few deliveries later. The wickets kept falling as Kanika Ahuja was caught out at mid-off. RCB’s death overs batting performance was weak, managing only 41 runs in the last 5 overs, with Perry facing just seven balls during this phase.
In their chase, Delhi Capitals’ openers faced tight bowling from Renuka Singh Thakur’s inswingers. Despite Meg Lanning surviving a couple of close LBW appeals, she eventually mistimed a shot to Perry at mid-on while attempting to accelerate, leaving the batting side at 5 for 1 after three overs. This was the only moment of success for RCB in the game. New batter Jonassen, coming in at No. 3, and Verma counter-attacked against Kim Garth in the following over, scoring three boundaries, all off back-foot shots. Verma continued her aggressive approach against Renuka, quickly reaching 22 runs off just 13 balls.
RCB was forced to bring back Perry to bowl, but she also bowled onto the pads, allowing the Capitals to reach 41 for 1 after the powerplay. The only opportunity for the hosts came right after the timeout when Ghosh missed a stumping chance off Jonassen. From that point onwards, the Capitals accelerated their scoring rate. Jonassen punished Sneh Rana’s short deliveries and then attacked her Australian counterpart, Perry, for another 15 runs.
Georgia Wareham bowled a few relatively quiet overs, but her spin partner Ekta Bist was heavily punished by both batters, each hitting a six against her. Jonassen was the first to reach her half-century off 30 balls, followed by Verma in the next over with a six over covers. RCB completely lost control as Garth parried a skier from Verma over the boundary ropes. Verma and Jonassen continued to score boundaries rapidly, chasing down the target with 4.3 overs remaining.
Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 147/5 in 20 overs (Ellyse Perry 60*, Raghvi Bist 33; Shikha Pandey 2-24, Nallapureddy Charani 2-28) lost to Delhi Capitals 151/1 in 15.3 overs (Shafali Verma 80*, Jess Jonassen 61*; Renuka Singh Thakur 1-28) by nine wickets
