High Voll-tage! Aussie masterful in Indian WPL triumph
Ian Chadband |
Georgia Voll has enhanced her burgeoning reputation as one of Australia’s next big cricket stars with a superb knock to help Royal Challengers Bengaluru lift the Women’s Premier League title after the most compelling final in India.
And it was Voll’s irrepressible Aussie teammate Grace Harris who laughed how she’d invoked the spirit of Roger Federer in a pre-match team talk at Vadodara on Thursday before RCB scrambled to pull off a record WPL chase, prevailing by six wickets but with only two balls left.
The 22-year-old Voll had endured a poor season back home in the WBBL and fellow Queenslander Harrris was earmarked as the more likely danger woman by their final opponents, Delhi Capitals.
But having to overhaul Delhi’s 4-203, the highest score ever made in a final, it was Voll who shone, matching her imperious captain Smriti Mandhana shot for shot in a remarkable 165-run second-wicket partnership to guide RCB towards their second title in three years.
“Beware High Volltage!” flashed the scoreboard when Voll got to 50 off 37 deliveries, and she soared on to a brilliant 79 off 54 balls, featuring 14 boundaries, before getting caught in the deep.
India superstar Mandhana was then also dismissed after a 41-ball 87 to leave nervous RCB still needing 13 off eight balls.
But they found a cool hero in Radha Yadav, who with eight still needed off four, crunched two up-and-over boundaries off spinner Shree Charani to the offside ropes to seal victory in the month-long tournament.
Asked how her brilliant knock rated in her career, Voll beamed: “Yeah, obviously pretty high up there. Would have been better if I’d finished it off but I’ve felt like I couldn’t hit the ball off the square for most of the season, so to come out there and perform in the final is obviously super special.”
With her teammates, she had enjoyed a beach break in Goa after RCB had qualified early as the WPL’s league leaders, and they reminded everyone again of why they’re the best team in the league, even without their Australian hero who’d guided them to their last title in 2024, Ellyse Perry.
Voll and Harris helped fill the void left by Perry after she decided to miss the season for personal reasons.
Harris had played a couple of blistering knocks as opener and though she got dismissed quickly for nine in Thursday’s chase, she still played her part.
After Delhi had been put in, she’d taken the catch that dismissed opener Lizelle Lee when she was going strong on 37, before captain Jemimah Rodrigues (57 off 37), Laura Wolvaardt (44 off 25) and Chinelle Henry (35no off 15) then propelled Delhi to their formidable 4-203.
Perhaps Harris’s best service, though, was her idiosyncratic team talk. “I just said to the girls, sometimes you only get this opportunity once, and to really take it,” explained the cheery Toowoomba allrounder.
“And I may have tried to be intelligent and quote Roger Federer, one of my favourites and one of the most successful athletes, who only won 54 percent of all his points.
“So I just said to the girls, ‘listen, you only have to win 54% to win – so let’s give it a good crack’. And look what happened!”
Mandhana was named player of the match — “She just makes it look so effortless,” swooned Voll – as she took the orange cap as the tournament’s highest run-scorer (377) while Gujarat Giants’ Kiwi veteran Sophie Devine was named player of the tournament.
AAP
