Meg Lanning Heartbroken as Delhi Capitals Suffer Second Consecutive WPL Final Defeat; Ganguly Hails Team as ‘Best’ in Tournament

The Delhi Capitals were leading the WPL 2024 final on Sunday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium at one point, with captain Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma setting the terms when the opening pair dismissed bowlers for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Nevertheless, Sophie Molineux’s three strikes in one over altered the entire dynamic, and DC was never able to recover from the hit. Despite restricting RCB in their chase of 114 with disciplined bowling from the home team, Lanning did put up a strong fight, but the total was never high enough. Before Shreyanka Patil ran rampant through the lower order after taking the vital wicket of Lanning to fold the hosts for only 113 runs in 18.3 overs, Molineux’s dream over reduced Delhi from 64 for no loss to 64 for three in the span of just three deliveries.

After a solid 49-run partnership between RCB captain Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine, Delhi managed to contain the run-scoring throughout the middle stages of the chase. RCB won the match by eight wickets, but Ellyse Perry and Richa Ghosh managed to remain composed during the last overs and finish the chase with three balls remaining. Lanning was observed standing by herself, utterly appalled by what she was seeing, while the Bangalore players broke out into passionate celebrations. When one of the Delhi support staff members consoled her, she was still crying and had her handkerchief covering her face. Lanning, the four-time T20 World Cup champion and ODI World Cup winner for Australia lost the Delhi team to the Mumbai Indians in the championship match last year; thus, this was his second attempt to prevent Delhi from winning.

But former India captain Sourav Ganguly called the Delhi team the “best team in the tournament” and saved the most regard for Lanning. “Good job, Delhi Capitals. Even though the trophy may not have gone our way after two consecutive finals, we will return to the finals and emerge victorious. You guys are the greatest team in the competition, so well done, Meg Lanning and team. Bravo, RCB. It’s impressive that you emerged from the third club in the league to defeat two formidable opponents in three days. revel in the trophy,” Ganguly wrote on Twitter.

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But when Lanning picked up the runners-up cheque during the post-match ceremony, she conceded that RCB were the rightful winners. It is obviously disappointing not to finish it. Playing well on the day is what matters in the finals. Bravo to RCB; you exceeded us in this game tonight. As is usually the case, everything transpired rapidly. As this tournament has demonstrated, bizarre things do happen. Kudos to RCB for their great comeback and well-deserved victory. We got a lot of things right. Sadly, that was not meant to be. Many individuals put in a great deal of effort. I would like to thank the staff for providing support. She said, “It’s funny; you win some, you lose some in cricket.”

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