‘That was unreal’: Aussie young gun fires in record chase as finals curse continues

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru have won their second Women’s Premier League title after defeating the Delhi Capitals by six wickets in Thursday’s high-scoring final at Vadodara’s Kotambi Stadium.

Chasing a daunting 204-run target for victory, the Royal Challengers got the job done with two balls to spare courtesy of a 165-run partnership between captain Smriti Mandhana (87 off 41 balls) and Australian young gun Georgia Voll (79 from 54 balls). It was the highest successful run chase in WPL history, while the duo’s partnership was also a competition record.

It comes after Bengaluru won their maiden title in 2024, while the Capitals have now suffered four-consecutive WPL final defeats, having qualified for the tournament decider in all four editions of the T20 competition with no trophies to show for it.

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The Capitals were sent in after Bengaluru won the toss, with Australian opener Lizelle Lee hitting a 30-ball 37 before skipper Jemimah Rodrigues cracked a stylish half-century. Delhi posted an imposing 4-203 from their 20 overs after a late flourish from South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt (44 from 25 balls) and West Indies slugger Chinelle Henry (35 off 15 balls not out).

England seamer Lauren Bell was the pick of the Bengaluru bowlers, conceding just 19 runs from her four economical overs.

Despite the early loss of opener Grace Harris, with the Queenslander departing in the second over for 9, Mandhana and Voll put the Royal Challengers within touching distance of the target before a brief collapse of 3-14 set up a tense conclusion.

However, with eight runs needed from the final four balls, Radha Yadav held her nerve with consecutive boundaries off spinner Shree Charani to seal victory.

Before the final, 22-year-old Voll had contributed scores of 1, 11, 9 and 16, finding form at just the right time.

“It would have been better to finish it off,” Voll said after the match.

“But to play that way in the final – I felt like I couldn’t hit the ball off the square for most of the season – so to come out and perform in the final is very special.”

Elsewhere, the Royal Challengers have become the first franchise to simultaneously hold the IPL and WPL trophies, with the men’s team winning last year’s title.

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