Mumbai: Shikha Pandey starred with the ball for DC with figures of 3/23 while Marizanne Kapp played the support act with an economical spell.
The DC middle order then chipped in with vital contributions – Alice Capsey (38 off 24), Jemimah Rodrigues (32 off 28), Marizanne Kapp (32* off 32), Jess Jonassen (29* off 15) – to help them pull off the chase in a thriller.
Chasing 151, DC lost Shafali Verma off the second ball of the innings as she was cleaned up by Megan Schutt.
Alice Capsey then arrived at the crease and took the attack to the RCB bowlers. She hit three boundaries off Renuka Singh and Preeti Bose each, but Preeti bounced back in the same over to have her caught at deep midwicket for 38(24).
DC reached 52/2 at the end of the Powerplay.
Things slowed down a bit and then Sobhana Asha provided the big breakthrough as she had Lanning (15 off 18) caught at long off.
Jemimah Rodrigues and Marizanne Kapp then steadied the ship with a 39-run stand off 35 balls. RCB needed a wicket at this moment and Asha answered the call as she had Jemimah caught by the keeper off a top edge for 32.
Jess Jonassen joined Kapp in the middle as RCB pulled things back a bit with the equation coming down to 24 off 18 balls.
Kapp then provided a crucial blow as she pulled one powerfully over deep square leg for a six off Perry. DC though could garner just 8 runs off that Perry over and then Shreyanka Patil bowled another good over and gave away just seven.
It came down to 9 required off the last over. Renuka Singh has the ball in hand. She started off well, giving away two singles off the first two balls.
However, Jess Jonassen, who has been in good form with the bat in this tournament, unleashed a couple of cracking blows to finish the match off in style. She heaved the third ball over deep mid-wicket for a six and smacked the next ball straight down the ground to hit the winning runs.
Earlier, Delhi Capitals captain Meg Lanning won the toss and elected to bowl. They made two changes to the side as Alice Capsey and Arundhati Reddy replaced Laura Harris and Minnu Mani.
RCB made four changes as Disha Kasat, Megan Schutt, Asha Shobana, Preeti Bose were named in the side.
Marizanne Kapp, the star of the last game, started off well and bowled a maiden first over to Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Smriti Mandhana.
Sophie Devine then got the first runs on the board with a four off the first ball of the second over of the innings by Alice Capsey. Devine and Mandhana then picked up a bit of momentum hitting three more fours.
Lanning then introduced Shikha Pandey into the attack and she struck in the first over, taking the big wicket of Mandhana. It was a good powerplay for DC as they restricted RCB to 29/1.
The DC bowers kept it tight and built pressure. And it paid off as Pandey came back to clean up the set Devine for 21 (19).
RCB reached 54/2 at the half-way point. Pandey was in action once again as she pouched a brilliant catch to send back Heather Knight off the bowling of Tara Norris.
Ellyse Perry and Richa Ghosh then led RCB’s revival as they went on a counter-attack. The pair added 74 runs from just 34 balls. Perry brought up her fifty in style with a massive six off Norris.
Shikha Pandey finally broke the stand as she had Ghosh caught behind for 37 (16) via a successful review. Ghosh’s innings was laced with three fours and three sixes.
Perry though made sure that RCB reached the 150-mark as she remained unbeaten on 67 off 52. Her innings was filled with five 6s and four 4s.
