Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore Highlights, WPL 2024 Eliminator: RCB Cruise To Final With Five-Run Win Over MI

Right then, we have our second finalist, with Bangalore securing their spot and ending Mumbai's hopes of back-to-back titles. Meg Lanning's Delhi now stands in Bangalore's way, determined to do one better than last season and lift the silverware for the first time, especially in front of their home fans. Whoever emerges victorious, one thing is certain - we will witness a new champion crowned in the Women's T20 League. The summit clash in the 2024 Women's T20 League between Delhi and Bangalore will be played on Sunday, the 17th of March, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The first ball will be bowled at 7.30 pm IST (2 pm GMT), but as always, you can join us early for the build-up. See you then. Cheers!

Ellyse Perry is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for her brilliance with both bat and ball. She says that it's really a good opportunity to play in the finals and the girls are very excited. Adds that it was a superb match for them and the spinners bowled really well at the end of the innings. She adds that they have come a long way since last year and they have really enjoyed each other’s company on the field. She talks about this being a team win and they are very excited and pumped to go into the finals.

The skipper of Bangalore, Smriti Mandhana says that it is yet to sink in. States that at the halfway mark, they thought they were 20 runs short. Adds that they bowled well and kept things tight. Feels that you obviously needed a special bowling effort when you have to defend 130-odd. Feels that Asha Shobana bowled a brilliant final over and kept her nerves while Shreyanka Patil had an excellent day with the ball. Adds that Sophie Molineux, too contributed with her 19th over. States that the wicket of Sajeevan Sajana was also important. Says that Perry is a legend of the game. Ends by saying that one day of good training and one day of good cricket is what they require now.

Time for the presentation ceremony...

Georgia Wareham is in for a chat. She says that ’she is not sure how they managed to pull it off. Feels that they fought hard till the end and every time they came in as a group, the talk was to hang in there and keep fighting. Shares that batting first worked well for them. Adds that Sophie Devine, Smriti Mandhana and Ellyse Perry were the leaders and told the team to stay calm. On her six off the last ball, she says that she swung across as hard as she could and it worked for her. Mentions that it is really cool with the crowd rallying behind them and they will now look to go all the way.

The captain of Mumbai, Harmanpreet Kaur says that it was a good game of cricket but they did not bat well in the final overs. She adds that it has been a very good tournament for them but the end has been very poor for them. She talks about the league doing very well for Women’s cricket in India as many young players are coming up through this platform. Finally talks about it being tough on the players as they worked hard to reach here but unfortunately won't get to go ahead.

Earlier in the game, after Smriti Mandhana won the flip of the coin, she went with the trend of teams opting to bat first in Delhi. Runs on the board in a knockout game are always handy, but it was not a start that Bangalore would have envisaged. Sophie Devine returned to the top of the order and walked out to open the innings with Smriti Mandhana. After a 14-run first over, it went downhill in real quick time for Bangalore, losing both openers and Disha Kasat inside the Powerplay. Richa Ghosh just could not get herself going and eventually succumbed to the pressure of the dots. The onus was then on Ellyse Perry to bail Bangalore out of trouble, and she came through for her side. She took her time initially before changing gears when the time was right and got to her second fifty of the season. Georgia Wareham chipped in for the finishing kick and helped Bangalore reach 135. For Mumbai, Hayley Matthews and Natalie Sciver-Brunt starred with the ball with identical figures of 4-0-18-2, while Saika Ishaque took two wickets as well but was slightly on the expensive side.

As for Mumbai, they will be devastated by this loss and will be kicking themselves for not being able to get over the line, despite having the chase under control for most parts. The defending champions needed 20 runs off 18 balls and with 7 wickets in hand, you back the batting team to win it from there 9 times out of 10. Harmanpreet Kaur could not see her side through and her dismissal was certainly the turning point. In pressure games such as this, it all comes down to who holds the nerves better and Mumbai just crumbled under pressure there. In pursuit of 136 runs, Mumbai were off to a decent start courtesy of their opening pair of Hayley Matthews and Yastika Bhatia. Like the openers, Natalie Sciver-Brunt could not convert her start after which Harmanpreet Kaur and Amelia Kerr took the innings forward. Both batters played sensible cricket with the intention of taking the game deep and did not allow the required run rate to get out of control. After doing all the hard work, Kaur threw it away and neither of the incoming batters nor the set batter in Kerr could get the job done.

BANGALORE ARE FINALS BOUND! Bangalore have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against the defending champions to reach their maiden Women's T20 League final. Despite being able to recover from a shaky start, Bangalore ended up with 135, which was way below the average first-inning score of 181. As a result, they were in search of early inroads to put Mumbai under pressure. Shreyanka Patil gave them a breakthrough in the fourth over but they could not build on that scalp. Ellyse Perry and Georgia Wareham combined well in the middle phase but wickets in a heap were the need of the hour for them to surge ahead in the game. They did not get what they had hoped for but credit to Bangalore for hanging in there. Shreyanka Patil started the fight back for Bangalore with the wicket of the Mumbai skipper in the 18th over and they capitalised on that breakthrough. With 16 runs needed off the last two overs, Sophie Molineux bowled an exceptional penultimate over, conceding just 4 runs before Asha Shobana, who had 12 runs to defend in the final over, held her nerves to close out the game for Bangalore.

Floats it up outside the off stump and gets it to turn away. Amelia Kerr dances down the track and goes for a big shot but only manages to get an outside edge towards short third and gets a single. It is Bangalore who move ahead into the Finals of the Women's T20 League 2024.

Tosses the ball up slow outside the off stump line. Amanjot Kaur gets back and looks to cut it but gets an outside edge towards short third for a single. Mumbai 7 runs off the last ball. Are we heading to a Super Over?

Amanjot Kaur walks out now with Mumbai needing 8 runs from the last two balls.

OUT! STUMPED! Asha Shobana sends back Pooja Vastrakar and the crowd roars again! Tosses the ball up on the off stump line and gets it to turn away. Pooja Vastrakar dances down the track and goes for a big heave but is completely beaten by the turning ball. Richa Ghosh does the rest behind the stumps and Bangalore gets another step closer to the victory.

Has Richa Ghosh done it again? Nicely tossed up by Asha Shobana and Pooja Vastrakar steps out for the biggie. She gets beaten in the flight and Ghosh is quick to disturb the stumps. The caught behind is checked first but there is no spike on UltraEdge. Vastrakar turns around but despite her efforts, she has fallen short of her crease.

Fuller on the line of the stumps and Pooja Vastrakar steps down and slogs the ball to the left of Ellyse Perry at deep mid-wicket and the batters runs a couple.

Flat and short outside the off stump line. Amelia Kerr stays back and swats the ball to long off for a single.

Floats the ball up on the off stump line. Pooja Vastrakar walks down the track and gets an outside edge towards short third man for a single and gets Amelia Kerr back on strike. Mumbai needs 11 off 5 now.

It will be Asha Shobana to bowl the final over. She has only bowled one over prior to this in this game, which went for 7 runs. Mumbai need 12 runs off the last over with Pooja Vastrakar on strike. Can Vastrakar be the hero for the defending champions?

Nails a yorker, straight on the middle stump line. Pooja Vastrakar drives the ball to long on for a single to end the over. Mumbai need 12 runs off the remaining 6 balls now.

Pooja Vastrakar makes her way out to the centre now.