Hello and a warm welcome to everyone for this exceptional blog where I will be writing on the complete campaign of the RCBW’s team, focusing on the spirited performances by an individual who inspired a team effort during crucial stages of this year’s WPL. Also, there is a perfect read on how this time around RCBW did vigorous planning and secret meetings well before the tournament and I will post it at the end of the blog. So enjoy this read and let’s get started!
Before we start with the 8 games, I would want to talk about the team bonding which has played a huge role for RCBW this time. This wasn’t possible last year because it was the inaugural season of the WPL and the auction was kept in late December or January. But this time around many members of the team were retained which gave the luxury for the management to organize many camps even 3-4 months before the season and so all the players knew each other very well, which played a huge part in forming out a team performance till the final and winning it.
Now coming to the matches, the first match was against the UP Warriorz and our batters managed to post 157 in the first innings put into bat which was about 10-20 runs under par even when the innings was with a lot of struggle in the beginning but some late flourishes by Richa Ghosh and Meghana got us about 160. Also, Chinnaswamy is a chasing ground historically but still, we defended 157 against a strong batting unit. There are two reasons for this. First I had mentioned in my previous blog that the bowlers won the game for RCBW and this was also just a normal day for them at the office. Asha Sobhana, who had played a lot of domestic cricket and attended the camps, picked up a stunning five fer and this did enough damage to the Warriorz as they fell short by 2 runs in a chase they were cruising. The second reason is simple, the crazy RCB fanbase. Honestly before the match not only the players and the management, including me expected about 20-25 thousand people coming but 40000 fans coming in, almost all seats were sold out and everyone cheering the famous “Aaaaaaar Ceeeeee Beeeee” did encourage the team to hit a 10-15 runs extra and a much bigger support this year from the fans also played a big part in their campaign. The second game was a little easier as we won the toss and opted to bowl, a no-brainer for a captain at the Chinnaswamy, got the Giants only to just 107 and chased it comfortably with 7 overs spare, giving a dream start to the season, and for a point, we were on the top of the table
But things started to change as consecutive losses with DCW and MIW dented our chances to directly move into the finals by finishing on the top of the table and ended up with a tussle with the Warriorz and Giants for the 3rd playoff spot (In WPL, the team which finishes at top qualifies directly to the final and the 2nd and 3rd team play the eliminator, and there is no 4th team which qualifies because only 5 teams exist).
Our next game and our last game at home was with the Warriorz for round two, an important clash where the teams wanted to dent each other’s chances of coming 3rd. This time around, the batting fired as the heavyweights Smriti Mandhana and Ellyse Perry completely smashed the entire ground, the latter famously smashing the glass of the car present in the stadium and a finishing touch by Richa Ghosh provided RCBW a mammoth 198 on board. Even though the bowling was a little average, this time the batting helped, helping RCBW back on track and our playoff chances became better.
Then we came to the Delhi leg where we had a disappointing start by conceding a huge defeat to the Giants as they finally got their first win. But even in this game as the Giants were aiming even 220 at one point, the death bowling was superb as we restricted them to 199 which was still very high. We should have easily lost the game by about 40-50 runs but Georgia Wareham’s quick-fire 48 reduced the margin to 19 runs, which was crucial for our net run-rate (NRR).
The next game with the DCW also started in a similar fashion as the Delhi top-order just ran away with the game but again the bowling restricted the Capitals to 181. In this case, Shreyanka Patil, who had just come from an injury just casually picked up 4 wickets and just gave 5 runs in the last over. This time around the batting looked much more organised and they did feel to chase the target but even after Richa’s incredible hitting, due to some poor running in the end, we fell short by 1 run, which was a heartbreaking loss against the team which was going to well even this season.
At this stage, the situation was 3 wins and 4 losses, and we had only one do-or-die encounter against the MIW, a team which we had never beaten last season and also at the Chinnaswamy. Again the same situation followed as the previous matches as we had to bowl first and MIW were on fire with Sajana, leading the charge. But then came a performance that completely blew out a star-studded batting line-up. It was Ellyse Perry, who had not yet picked up a wicket and bowled very little. Her first over went normally but the second, third and fourth, nipping the ball in almost like Bhuvneshwar Kumar and in her spell, in no time, she picked up 6 wickets for 15 runs, the best-ever figures in the WPL. This was one of those matches I was watching live and was stunned by her performance, in a do-or-die game and that too against the defending champions. This was all enough for RCBW as MIW were bundled out for 113. But MIW kept pecking wickets and they had 3 for just 39 runs and they felt they were coming in the game. But if we all thought it was all enough from Perry, it wasn’t. Again playing a typical rearguard with Richa Ghosh and she hit a match-winning 40 as well. Taking 6 wickets and hitting 40 runs is impressive in ODI cricket where you do get 10 overs to bowl. But having just 4 overs in a T20 game, this was one of the best all-round performances I have ever seen and the world has seen. And then, the playoffs emerged and the eliminator was with the same team which we had beaten a couple of nights ago.
But this time we chose to bat, the top-order collapsed and again Ellyse Perry, the superwoman played rearguard for her 66 of 50 balls as some flourishes from Wareham somehow managed to get just 135, where at a point even 120 looked tough and this was a shocker of a start in the Eliminator and a good batting side chasing 136 is going to be very tough to defend. However, the bowlers started bowling tight lines, not giving away easy runs and after the halfway mark, there was little hope to defend it even though they were just 2 down. But the in-form pair of Harmanpreet Kaur and Amelia Kerr kept getting those runs as I had spoken briefly in my previous blog. Now coming to the most important point of the match, the equation was 20 runs to win in 3 overs with Kaur and Kerr still out there. At this point, even I started thinking that it was typical RCB stuff, coming into the playoffs and losing the eliminator and so were all the fans. But the only person who I think had some belief was Shreyanka Patil. In the 18th over, she just gave 4 runs and the massive wicket of Kaur who was stumped. Still, 16 of 12 is going to be difficult to defend but another astonishing over from Molineux who even picked up the impressive Sajana brought down the equation to 13 of 7. And from here the whole team had the belief including the fans that we could pull this game out of nowhere. And then another spinner, Asha Sobhana came to bowl the 20th over as Perry bowled out and Mandhana had no option. Using her experience, she even got Pooja Vastrakar stumped as well and brought the equation to 7 of 1 with Kerr on strike. Even at this point, being a typical RCB fan I thought Kerr would hit a six somehow and tie the game but she did swing her bat but just went as far as to third man and from nowhere, a stunning performance where one individual, Patil encouraged the others to believe and it was hard to believe we were in the finals.
Now coming to the big day, playing the DCW was a very big challenge as we had never beaten them in the history of the WPL. DCW opted to bat first and got off to a flyer with Shafali Verma smoking almost everything and Meg Lanning was supporting her beautifully. At one point, they were 64/0 after 7 overs. Then came Sophie Molineux, who just ran through the batting aided with bad shot selection by the Delhi batters and then Patil joined the fun and they 4 down in no time. Again this inspired performance did more than enough damage as the batting collapsed suddenly and again a team was bowled out for 113 with Patil again taking a four-fer. Unlike the MIW game, this time around Smriti and Devine chose a patient approach where they did not give their wickets easily and were going at about 6 an over but the DCW bowlers were outstanding and they were always in the game. But again Perry with a rearguard with Richa Ghosh for the like the 7th time this season and they brought the game down to 5 of 6. Still, DCW did believe a little bit as they got it to 3 of 4. I was already angry that we took the game till the final over and it was very tense but finally, Richa lofted the ball over cover and finally, the dream came true and I felt like the world ended, RCB had their first ever trophy and the whole of Karnataka went wild after this win, as with hard work, belief and determination, Smriti Mandhana with her absolutely brilliant captaincy and planning and also credit to head coach Luke Williams as we lifted the trophy for the very first time. And the words from Smriti Mandhana, which I guess she would have prepared for about 15 minutes before she told it, “One statement that always comes up is Ee Sala Cup Namde. Now it’s Ee Sala Cup Namdu.” will forever be etched in the hearts of RCB fans all over the world.
This win definitely motivates the men’s team, who do have a depleted spin bowling attack and Kohli also said “This is RCB’s new chapter” in the UNBOX event at the Chinnaswamy makes this season a very interesting season for the men in red and blue this time and also changing their name from Bangalore to Bengaluru perhaps for a change of fortunes. But again a big congratulations to the Women’s team for finally winning a trophy for the franchise and the fanbase with Smriti, superwoman Perry who deservedly got the orange cap (most runs in the season), Patil who was injured for a couple of games and still won the purple cap (most wickets), Asha Sobhana, Richa Ghosh, Georgia Wareham, Sophie Molineux, Meghana who all have marked their names in the history books for RCBW and fittingly were the “Queens of 2024”
Here we come to the end of the blog and I will be posting soon after this on the review of the CSK RCB clash and will be posting almost every day if not every day till the IPL ends. So stay tuned and let’s meet soon The article which I mentioned earlier in the blog… https://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/129915/of-secret-meetings-and-meticulous-planning-how-rcb-built-queens-2024