Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Smriti Mandhana lauded the franchise’s fans and had a special message for them after leading her team to their maiden Women’s Premier League (WPL) title on Sunday, March 17. RCB defeated Delhi Capitals (DC) by 8 wickets in the final at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi to win the WPL 2024 title and give their fans around the world a moment to cherish.
One of the most popular franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the RCB men’s team have never won the title. However, Mandhana & Co. managed to achieve the elusive feat in just the second season of the WPL. After the spinners shone with the ball to bundle out DC cheaply on 113 runs, RCB rode on valuable knocks from skipper Mandhana, opener Sophie Devine and all-rounder Ellyse Perry to wrap up a comfortable 8-wicket victory in the summit clash.
Speaking at the post-match presentation after her team’s memorable victory, Mandhana called RCB’s fanbase one of the most loyal fanbases in the tournament and credited them for their incredible support throughout the tournament. She also brought up the famous ‘Ee sala cup named’ slogan which has been synonymous with RCB over the years and gave a different version now that the franchise has finally won a title.
‘The most loyal fanbase. One statement that always comes up is ‘Ee sala cup namde’ Now it’s ‘Ee sala cup namdu’. Kannada is not my first language but it was important to say it for the fans,’ Mandhana said at the post-match presentation when asked if she had a message for fans.
‘Ee sala cup namde’ is a Kannada phrase which translates to ‘this year the cup is ours’ while ‘Ee sala cup namdu’ means ‘we already have the cup’.
Watch Smriti Mandhana’s special message to RCB fans:
Talking about the final, Delhi Capitals won the toss and opted to bat first at their home ground. The hosts got off to a great start with openers Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma putting on a 64-run stand for the 1st wicket. However, Sophie Molineux’striple strike in an over proved to be a game-changer for RCB as they managed to bounce back into the game.
The spinners ran riot with Molineux, Shreyanka Patil and Asha Sobhana picking up 9 wickets between them to bundle out DC for 113 runs inside 18.3 overs. In reply, RCB planned their chase perfectly as they rode on crucial knocks from Mandhana (31), Sophie Devine (32) and Ellyse Perry (35*) to chase down the target with three balls to spare.
RCB looked under pressure at one stage in the run chase but with Perry’s experience out in the middle, they cruised to victory comfortably in the end.