Watch: RCB spinner Sophie Molineux's strikes thrice in one over against DC in WPL 2024 final

The Delhi Capitals (DC) were running away with the game and appeared headed for a massive total after opting to bat against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) final in Delhi on Sunday when they were brought to a screeching halt by left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux.

Australian spinner Molineux, who was part of the spin trio that helped RCB pull off a miraculous victory over defending champions Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator on Friday, struck thrice in one over to turn the game on its head after DC had raced to 64 for no loss at the end of the seven-over mark.

The turning point came at the start of Molineux’s second over when hard-hitting opener Shafali Verma, who had accounted for 44 of the 64 runs Delhi had scored in the first seven overs, holed out to Georgia Wareham at deep midwicket while looking for another maximum, resulting in the fiery opening stand coming to an end.

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Jemimah Rodrigues would block the next delivery for a dot before getting clean bowled in the third delivery of the over while attempting to sweep the Aussie, missing the ball completely. Alice Capsey would depart the very next delivery for a golden duck, also getting clean bowled, albeit while attempting to play a lap shot.

All-rounder Marizanne Kapp walked in to face the hat-trick delivery, and denied Molineux the rare feat by blocking the penultimate delivery of the over before collecting a single off the last ball to keep the strike for the next over.

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Watch Molineux’s triple strike in her second over here:

Changing the course of the match and how 🔥

A dream over by Sophie Molineux 👏#DCvRCB #TATAWPL #TATAWPLonSports18 #TATAWPLonJioCinema #JioCinemaSports #CheerTheW pic.twitter.com/69Lc78iOHX

— JioHotstar Reality (@HotstarReality) March 17, 2024

The flurry of dismissals would lead to a batting collapse of epic proportions as Delhi Capitals, who secured a direct entry into the final for a second season running after topping the table at the end of the league stage, went from 64/0 to 113 all out.

Openers Verma (44 off 26) and Lanning (23 off 23) would finish as the top-scorers for their side in the summit clash, with none of the other batters crossing 20.

While Molineux’s second over was the turning point, it was off-spinner Shreyanka Patil who finished the pick of the bowlers with outstanding figures of 4/12 — her second four-fer against DC this season — with 21-year-old running through the DC lower order and also accounting for the crucial wicket of Lanning, who was trapped plumb LBW in front of off and middle.

Lanning (331 runs) and Patil (13 wickets) would move to the top of the batting and the bowling charts respectively at the end of the first innings in the WPL 2024 final.