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Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) beat Mumbai Indians (MI) narrowly by five runs in the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2024 Eliminator in Delhi to advance to the final. It is a wonderful turnaround for them on Friday after finishing second last in the points table in 2023.
RCB captain Smriti Mandhana won the toss and opted to bat first in the knockout game. Ellyse Perry (66) hit a magnificent half-century and almost single-handedly took her side to a respectable first innings total of 135/6. Georgia Wareham (18*) lent her some support with a cameo in the end.
In reply, MI batted sensibly and placed themselves in a comfortable position, needing just 16 runs from 13 balls. Hamranpreet Kaur tried to finish the game quickly by attempting a big shot toward the long-on region and perished on the next ball.
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Things went downhill for MI from there. Sophie Molineux and Asha Sobhana bowled the next two overs without conceding a single boundary while picking up a wicket each. As a result, RCB eventually managed to defend the target and win the match by five runs.
Fans on social media enjoyed the thrilling encounter between RCB and MI on Friday night in WPL 2024. They expressed their reactions to the same through some hilarious memes on social media.
Here is a collection of the best memes related to the Eliminator contest:
"In twelve balls we just needed one boundary and we could not get that"- MI captain Harmanpreet Kaur after loss vs RCB
At the post-match presentation, MI skipper Harmanpreet Kaur reflected on the loss and said:
"I think we bowled really well to restrict them below 140. Batting was also good but unfortunately in the last 12 balls we didn't bat well. In twelve balls we just needed one boundary and we could not get that.
"That's what this game teaches you - how to deal with pressure and you learn from that. I think when we lost my wicket, our batters could not close it out. I think that was the turning point."
On the positives from their campaign, Kaur continued:
"We saw SS (Sajana) doing well this tournament. She can hit the ball really hard. Good to see the players coming through and doing well. We fought really hard. This season was a little up and down for us. Last season we did really well. We've learnt a lot from this season and hopefully we prepare really well and come back hard."
RCB will lock horns with DC in the final of WPL 2024 on Sunday (March 17) at the same venue.
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