RCB captain Smriti Mandhana was in imperious touch, smashing a brilliant 87 off 41 deliveries, while Georgia Voll chipped in with a fluent 79 off 54. The duo stitched together a commanding 165-run stand for the second wicket, laying the foundation for a memorable title triumph.
This came after DC captain Jemimah Rodrigues rose to the occasion with a scintillating fifty, while Chinelle Henry provided late fireworks with a blistering
35 off just 15 deliveries to power their team to an imposing 203/4.
“I would love to mention three people. First, Smriti, because she has been through a lot over the past couple of months and I want to dedicate this win to her. Then Malo and Anya,” Shreyanka said while speaking to the host broadcasters.
“Today is Anya’s son’s first birthday, which makes it even more special. And for Malo, it is his first season as head coach, so this victory means a great deal to all of us,” Shreyanka added.
The youngster definitely hinted at Smriti’s earlier engagement to music director Palash Muchhal, a wedding that was supposed to happen in November but was called off due to undisclosed reasons.
In the stiff chase, RCB suffered an early blow with the loss of Grace Harris (9), but Mandhana and Voll held firm, scoring and keeping pace with the required run rate.
Mandhana and Voll punished anything overpitched with ease and handled the short-pitched delivery with authority through pulls and cuts, as RCB brought up 100 at the halfway stage, still needing 104 runs from the final 60 balls.