Shafali Verma’s blitz powers nine-wicket win over RCB as Delhi Capitals qualify for WPL knockouts
Bengaluru, Mar 1 (PTI): Shafali Verma smacked 80 not out as Delhi Capitals registered a commanding nine-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru to qualify for the Women’s Premier League knockouts here on Saturday.
For defending champions RCB, this was their fourth consecutive defeat at their home venue of M Chinnaswamy Stadium here.
After Ellyse Perry’s fourth fifty (60 not out) of the season took RCB to a competitive 147/5, DC batters Shafali (80 not out) and Jess Jonassen (61 not out) brushed aside the challenge without much ado.
Chasing 148 to win, DC prevailed with nine wickets in hand and 4.5 overs to spare, consolidating their position at the top of the WPL table with 10 points from seven matches, thanks to five wins and two losses.
They became the first team to reach the playoffs.
Delhi Capitals had, in fact, handed a similar thrashing to Mumbai Indians here on Friday.
RCB, on the other hand, slipped to fourth position with only two wins so far in six matches.
Shafali continued to dazzle with her stroke play to make 80 not out off only 43 balls with four sixes and eight fours for her first half-century of the season after falling in 40s thrice in the tournament.
She produced a cracking hit for a six over cover off Georgia Wareham in the 13th over to complete her fifty off 30 balls.
On the other hand, Australia veteran Jonassen produced her second fifty of the season, smacking nine fours and one six to make 61 off only 38 balls to pile up further pressure on RCB.
Earlier, Perry’s 47-ball 60 not out was crucial for RCB as it guided them to 147 for five.
Perry became the competition’s all-time highest run-getter with 895 runs in 23 matches at 63.92, going past Meg Lanning (847 runs in 25 matches).
With this knock, the Australian stalwart also became the leading run-scorer in this year’s WPL with 295 runs in six matches at 98.33.
Perry dropped anchor to help RCB recover from an early blow in the form of skipper Smriti Mandhana (8) and hit her fourth fifty of the season, scoring 60 from 47 balls with three sixes and as many fours.
Perry also forged strong partnerships along the way, adding 44 runs with England’s Danni Wyatt-Hodge (21) for the second wicket and another 68 runs with India’s Raghvi Bisht (33) to consolidate the RCB innings.
While Wyatt-Hodge struck one six and two fours to make 21 off 18 balls, Bisht had a successful outing as she made 33 from 32 balls with two sixes.
For Delhi Capitals, India's Shikha Pandey returned 4-0-28-2, while the uncapped Nallapureddy Charani claimed 4-0-28-2. Marizanne Kapp was once again impressive with the new ball, returning 4-0-18-1 for another measly spell.
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Delhi CM Rekha Gupta accuses Mamata Banerjee of stalling SIR; TMC hits back
Kolkata (PTI): Alleging that her West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee had approached the Supreme Court to stall the SIR exercise to prevent the identification of infiltrators, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday claimed that the people of the state have made up their minds to dislodge the Trinamool Congress from power.
The TMC countered strongly, urging Gupta to "look into her own backyard" and accused her of making absurd allegations against the TMC government without checking facts.
Addressing participants at the 'Nari Sankalp Yatra' organised by the BJP's women's wing at Science City auditorium here, Gupta alleged that the "hands-off" and appeasement policies of the TMC government had allowed thousands of infiltrators to enter the state in recent years.
She claimed that this had put a strain on basic rights such as access to water, electricity, ration, education, livelihood and the right to vote for genuine citizens.
"She wants to perpetuate this and hence is trying to stall the SIR exercise, which aims at identifying and deporting infiltrators. Imagine a chief minister going to the apex court to argue against an exercise meant to ensure free and fair polls," Gupta said.
The BJP leader alleged that appeasement politics had reached an "alarming level" under the TMC regime.
Raising concerns over women's safety, she claimed that women in the state were not secure despite having a woman chief minister.
Referring to the rape-murder of a woman doctor at RG Kar Hospital, Gupta alleged that the state government had failed to respond adequately to such crimes.
She also referred to the alleged rape of a woman medic in Durgapur and another law student on a Kolkata college campus, claiming that criminals had been emboldened to commit brutalities against women.
She alleged that in crimes against women, overall crime incidents and child marriages, West Bengal remained among the top -- "a slur on a state which once led intellectual and social movements and set examples for the rest of the country," she said.
Criticising the state government's welfare initiatives, she said schemes such as Kanyashree were built on "false claims" and asserted that women needed security rather than assurances.
Accusing the state government of blocking central schemes, Gupta alleged that funds worth "lakhs of crores of rupees" had not reached the poor due to non-implementation of programmes such as Ayushman Bharat, PM Awas Yojana and Jal Jeevan Mission by the state.
"You are only interested in renaming projects and taking credit," she said.
Gupta also alleged that the education sector in the state had been adversely affected, saying several state-run schools had closed due to a shortage of teachers and that the government was opposed to the National Education Policy.
Drawing a comparison with BJP-ruled Delhi, Gupta said, "People have already voted out 'Bhaia' (a reference to former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal). Now it is your turn to bid farewell to 'Didi'." Calling upon women to resist what she termed "strong-arm tactics", she urged them to assert their strength, invoking the imagery of Goddess Durga.
"Bengal has the right to live with dignity, and women have the right to live with dignity," she added.
Reacting to Gupta's allegations, West Bengal Women and Child Welfare minister Shashi Panja accused her of making "absurd allegations" against the Trinamool Congress government ahead of elections.
Panja alleged that during Gupta's tenure in Delhi, several incidents had raised serious concerns, including reports of missing young women and a blast near the Red Fort.
She also criticised the air pollution situation in the national capital, claiming that people were struggling to breathe.
The TMC leader said that despite being in power for a year, Gupta was making "tall claims" instead of addressing key issues in Delhi.
Panja further alleged that the Delhi CM visited West Bengal during elections to "peddle false allegations" against the state government.
Rebutting Gupta, the TMC said in a post on X said, "Madam why did you go off-script again? For your edification, here are the cold, hard facts: In total cases of crimes (IPC + SLL), Bengal ranks a respectable 15th, far safer than BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, which languish near the bottom."
"In overall crime rate, Bengal sits comfortably at 28th. Who's second? Your own Delhi. Double Engine Gujarat and Haryana grab 4th and 5th as top-tier crime havens," the TMC said.
"In child marriage, Assam again takes the shameful pole position. And yet you dare lecture Bengal? Stop embarrassing yourself, stop the hypocrisy, and maybe fix the rotting mess in your own backyard before pointing fingers at a state that's outperforming your disasters on every key metric," the TMC countered.
