There were a few hiccups in the low-scoring Women's Premier League (WPL) 2024 final but Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) held their nerves and won the match by eight wickets to create history. After the eight-wicket win at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on March 17, skipper Smriti Mandhana had a special message for ‘the most loyal fanbase’.
“Have a message for the fans - 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 in the post-match presentation.
RCB had a mixed bag of a season during the league stage. With four wins from eight games, they were placed third on the points table and qualified for the eliminator against former champions Mumbai Indians (MI). Mandhana feels the tournament is about peaking at the right time.
“Feeling hasn't still sunk in. Hard for me to come out with expressions. One thing I'll say is I'm proud of the bunch. Our Bangalore leg was really good. We came to Delhi and had two tough losses. That's what we spoke about that we need to step up at the right time. These tournaments are about peaking at the right time,” the stylish opener said.
Mandhana built the team her way
Mandhana thanked the team management for giving her a free hand to build the team the way she wanted.
“Last year taught us a lot of things. What went wrong, what went right. Management just said this is your team, build it (your way). Thumbs up to them. For RCB, it's a lot more. I'm not the only one who won the trophy, the team has won the trophy. I'm not the person to talk about what I feel. This is in top five maybe. Obviously, a World Cup would top it,” the 27-year-old added.
While Sophie Molineux won the 'Player of the Match' for her triple strike in one over, Shreyanka Patil won the purple cap and 'Emerging Player of the tournament' after taking a four-fer in the final.
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