Vadodara, Jan 24 (IANS) Laura Wolvaardt struck 42 not out as Delhi Capitals ended Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s unbeaten run with a seven-wicket victory in their 2026 Women’s Premier League (WPL) game at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara on Saturday.

Chasing a modest target of 110, DC reached the finish line with 4.2 overs to spare, a result that lifted them to second place in the points table and boosted their Net Run Rate. Shafali Verma gave the chase early impetus before falling alongside Lizelle Lee in successive overs from pacer Sayali Satghare.

Skipper Jemimah Rodrigues (24) and Laura steadied the innings with a composed 52-run stand. The duo took advantage of lapses in the field as RCB spilt catches and conceded boundaries through misfields. Though Jemimah departed before the chase ended, Marizanne Kapp (19 not out) joined Laura to help Delhi Capitals reach the target and script a comprehensive victory.

RCB, already assured of a playoff berth, were outplayed in all departments on the night, finishing with 109 all out — their lowest total of the season. DC, meanwhile, celebrated a second successive win to strengthen their push for entering the playoffs.

Shafali gave Delhi a flying start in the opening over by striking three boundaries off Lauren Bell, as 16 runs came off it. But her dismissal in the second over, stumped off Sayali, checked DC’s momentum. Two overs later, Lizelle also fell to Sayali as her slog-sweep was caught by deep backward square leg.

Laura Wolvaardt and skipper Jemimah Rodrigues rebuilt steadily, adding runs through controlled strokes and capitalising on RCB’s lapses in the field. Rodrigues was dropped twice while finding her rhythm with successive boundaries off Arundhati Reddy, while Laura kept the scoreboard ticking with singles and occasional fours.

Though Jemimah was caught at extra-cover off Radha Yadav, the Proteas duo of Marizanne and Laura ensured there were no further alarms. Marizanne struck clean boundaries off Lauren and Radha, while Laura launched a four and six each off Lauren and Georgia Voll. The chase was wrapped up in the 16th over when Marizanne swept Shreyanka Patil for four to seal a comprehensive win for DC and boost their net run rate.

Brief scores:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru 109 all out in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 38, Radha Yadav 18; Nandni Sharma 3-26, Marizanne Kapp 2-17) lost to Delhi Capitals 111/3 in 15.4 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 42 not out, Jemimah Rodrigues 24; Sayali Satghare 2-18, Radha Yadav 1-10) by seven wickets

–IANS

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