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Delhi Capitals (DC) opener Shafali Verma got her side off to a sensational start to the WPL 2024 final against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) with a destructive 44 off 27 balls.
Shafali struck five maximums to take her league-leading tally to 20 sixes before being dismissed in the first ball of the eighth over. Shafali's knock propelled DC to 64 in seven overs and laid the platform for the rest of the batters with skipper Meg Lanning.
With this breathtaking display, Shafali ended her 2024 WPL season on 309 runs at an average of over 38 and a strike rate of 156.85. Her quickfire starts have been vital to DC finishing on top of the table, but contrary to last year's finale, the youngster ensured to perform on the big occasion.
Unfortunately for Shafali, her vigil ended when she holed out to deep mid-wicket on her slog sweep, much to the relief of the RCB bowlers.
Nevertheless, her blistering start had Twitter buzzing, with many comparing the knock with her role model Rohit Sharma's during the 2023 World Cup.
Here are some of the best reactions:
DC suffer shocking collapse after Shafali Varma's onslaught
Unfortunately for DC, Shafali Varma's knock was seemingly the last moment of joy as the table-toppers suffered a shocking collapse in the WPL 2024 final.
Left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux picked up two other wickets in the same over after dismissing Shafali to reduce DC to 65/3 from 64/0 after eight overs. Two overs later, RCB bagged the massive wicket of skipper Meg Lanning to leave DC in shambles at 75/4 in 11 overs.
Things continued to go from bad to worse for DC as a double-wicket 14th over from Asha Shobana sunk them to 81/6 in the 14th over. A stunned home crowd could not believe the collapse as DC lost seven wickets for 23 runs to falter from 64/0 to 87/7.
They endured a sorry batting performance in the inaugural WPL final last year, scoring a paltry 131/9 in 20 overs against the Mumbai Indians and suffering a seven-wicket defeat. Cut to the present, and the situation looks bleak for DC as they are stumbling at 102/8 in the 17th over in the wake of a stunning comeback from the RCB bowlers.
DC had defeated RCB in both league stage meetings by batting first on each occasion. While they recorded a 25-run victory in Bangalore, the margin was much closer in the meeting at Delhi, with the home side prevailing by one run.
