On March 17 (Sunday), the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated Delhi Capitals (DC) by eight wickets in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 final at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.This victory is a watershed moment for Smriti Mandhana and her team, as it is the Bangalore-based franchise’s first title win in both the Women’s Premier League and the Indian Premier League.
After losing the toss, RCB was tasked with bowling first. Despite DC’s strong start of 64/0 after seven overs, the momentum shifted dramatically when left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux took three crucial wickets in the eighth over.
Following the setback, DC struggled to recover, eventually being dismissed for 113 runs in 18.3 overs. Shreyanka Patil impressed with 4/12 off 3.3 overs.
In the chase, the cautious RCB scored the target in 19.3 overs. Captain Mandhana contributed 31 runs, Sophie Devine scored 32, and fan favourite Ellyse Perry finished unbeaten on 35*. Richa Ghosh also contributed significantly, scoring 17* runs and driving her team to victory.
Let’s look at the list of highest run-scorers and wicket-takers at WPL 2024:
Most Runs In WPL 2024
1. Ellyse Perry: 9 matches, 9 innings, 347 runs, Avg: 69.40, SR: 125.72, 4s: 41, 6s: 7
2. Meg Lanning: 9 matches, 9 innings, 331 runs, Avg: 36.78, SR: 123.05, 4s: 47, 6s: 4
3. Shafali Verma: 9 matches, 9 innings, 309 runs, Avg: 38.62, SR: 156.85, 4s: 27, 6s: 20
4. Smriti Mandhana: 10 matches, 10 innings, 300 runs, Avg: 30.00, SR: 133.93, 4s: 40, 6s: 10
5. Deepti Sharma: 8 matches, 8 innings, 295 runs, Avg: 98.33, SR: 136.57, 4s: 34, 6s: 8
In addition to winning the WPL 2024 title, Royal Challengers Bangalore earned individual accolades. Ellyse Perry was awarded the Orange Cap for scoring the most runs in the tournament, while Shreyanka, an emerging off-spinner, won the Purple Cap for taking the most wickets.
Most Wickets In WPL 2024
1. Shreyanka Patil: 8 matches, 21.3 overs, 129 balls, 13 wickets, Avg: 12.08, Runs: 157, 4-fers: 2
2. Asha Sobhana: 10 matches, 26.0 overs, 156 balls, 12 wickets, Avg: 15.42, Runs: 185, 5-fers: 1
3. Sophie Molineux: 10 matches, 38.0 overs, 228 balls, 12 wickets, Avg: 23.17, Runs: 278
4. Marizanne Kapp: 7 matches, 28.0 overs, 168 balls, 11 wickets, Avg: 16.00, Runs: 176
5. Sophie Ecclestone: 8 matches, 31.3 overs, 189 balls, 11 wickets, Avg: 18.82, Runs: 207
Remarkably, this is the first time in the history of the IPL and WPL that a team has won the championship while its players have earned both the Orange and Purple caps.