WPL 2024: How Sophie Molineux, RCB’s spin ace, repaid Smriti Mandhana’s faith when it mattered most

Think of yourself as someone putting a franchise cricket team together. Would you pick a player who last featured in a T20I in 2021? More so if you’re an established club in the world of franchise cricket looking for greener pastures after an underwhelming showing in the first season of the biggest women’s T20 tournament in the world? Royal Challengers Bangalore did just that.

After a disappointing first rodeo in the Women’s Premier League, the RCB management sat captain Smriti Mandhana down and said, “This is your team, build it the way you want.” That conversation also involved asking Smriti if she had any recommendations for RCB’s next coach. The first name that came to her mind was Luke Williams, the assistant coach at Southern Brave in The Hundred, which she had been part of.

“During The Hundred is where Luke and I started jotting down a few names and tracking a few players. Sophie Molineux was one of them,” Smriti revealed after RCB’s maiden WPL title triumph. “She was injured so we had to track her. Luke kept close tabs on the Australian system and we went through with her.”

Ever the fighter

If you’re an Indian women’s cricket fan, you might remember Molineux copping a bouncing ball to the face during the third ODI against India at Mackay in 2021. She cut her lip but came back with her mouth taped to bowl the death overs, making the visitors work for their two-wicket win in the final over. That victory halted Australia’s world record 26-match unbeaten streak but Molineux’s resilience became the talking point of the day.

Her tryst with injuries continued as she sustained a stress fracture to her right foot at the end of the same year. That was curtains for her participation in the Women’s National Cricket League (Australia’s domestic 50-over tournament) and the Ashes.

She also missed the 2022 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand, which Australia won for the seventh time, and the Commonwealth Games where Australia defeated India to win gold.

The eight-month-long lay-off eventually cost her the Australian national contract. The southpaw returned to cricket in The Hundred, where she took five wickets and scored 65 runs in five games.

During the Women’s Big Bash League that year, Molineux — leading Melbourne Renegades — ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament which needed mandatory surgery and ruled her out of competitive cricket for 12 months. Consequently, she missed Australia’s triumphant 2023 T20 World Cup campaign.

Molineux made a return to cricket in the Australian domestic circuit in December 2023, captaining Victoria in the WNCL. She hit the ground running, scoring 62 runs and taking six wickets in only her second game. After leading the wicket-takers’ chart for much of the tournament, she finished fourth in the list with 17 scalps in six matches; she also contributed 167 runs in six innings.

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The Bairnsdale-born all-rounder then made it to the Governor General’s XI which beat South Africa ahead of the multi-format series Down Under. She was named Player-of-the-Match for her 41-ball 59 and one wicket. Molineux featured in the one-off Test against South Africa where she went wicketless but was economical. She has now taken Jess Jonassen’s place in Australia’s squad for the tour of Bangladesh ahead of the Women’s T20 World Cup to be held in the Asian country later this year.

“I’ve always loved the game. I used to play three games a weekend back home and just loved it. When you get caught up in doing it day-in-day-out as a job, you don’t stop and then you probably don’t take it for granted when it’s not there,” she had said when she made her comeback in Australian colours.

“We’ve been following her for a very long time. I remember her bowling against us in the one-day series, which we nearly won, when we went to Australia. She was the difference between the Australian team and the Indian squad, and the way she bowled in the last four-five overs and it always stuck with me somehow — her performance,” Smriti said after the WPL triumph.

“The last two years, with a few injuries, have been really tough on her. She went through ACL and I can feel that pain (having gone through it myself)… so really happy for her,” she added.

WPL run

Coming into WPL Season 2, RCB had to deal with the loss of England captain Heather Knight who chose to prioritise national duty for the tour of New Zealand in the run-up to the World Cup. That opened the door for Molineux to repay the faith Smriti and Williams had shown in her.

In the first game, she left UP Warriorz skipper Alyssa Healy flummoxed with a ripper that straightened instead of spinning in. RCB won that game by two runs.

Facing Gujarat Giants next, Molineux claimed three scalps — Veda Krishnamurthy, Kathryn Bryce and Sneh Rana — in RCB’s eight-wicket win. She went wicketless in RCB’s 25-run loss to Delhi Capitals and seven-wicket loss to Mumbai Indians. Molineux had Healy’s number again in the reverse fixture with another peach of a delivery that appeared to turn well past leg-stump but straightened. Richa Ghosh did the rest behind the stumps, leaving Healy short of her crease. The left-armer also got rid of Poonam Khemnar as RCB scripted a 23-run win.

Molineux dismissed D. Hemalatha, but was expensive in RCB’s 19-run loss to Gujarat Giants.

The crunch game against Delhi Capitals saw the Bengaluru outfit open the batting with the all-left combo of Molineux and Smriti. It was a call that left many puzzled as it exposed the Indian to her off-spin weakness early on. Though Smriti fell early, Molineux managed a 30-ball 33 in a chase that RCB agonisingly fell short by a solitary run. That loss put its playoff chances in danger. Molineux was expensive, going for more than 11 runs an over in that game, with questions emerging about her spot in the line-up.

However, Ellyse Perry helped RCB seal its place in the Eliminator with an all-round show against Mumbai Indians. Molineux retained her place in the knockout fixture against the same opponent, giving away just 16 runs in her four overs and taking a wicket.

It was in the final that Molineux truly came into her own. Taking on a dominant Delhi Capitals, RCB’s spin trio of Shreyanka Patil, Molineux and Asha Sobhana proved to be a formidable spin web that pulled Meg Lanning & Co. into its trap. It was a spell-binding over by Molineux that turned the game on its head.

DC was 64/0 at the end of the seventh over. Molineux, who had conceded 10 runs in her first over in the PowerPlay, rocked Capitals with three strikes in a single over, removing Shafali Verma with a tossed up delivery which the opener struck straight to midwicket. She then took out Jemimah Rodrigues and Alice Capsey off consecutive deliveries, both heading in between the middle-and-off-stump. She went on to concede just 20 runs in the game and also pulled off a remarkable run out to send Arundhati Reddy back to the hut. Her performance powered RCB to its maiden title and she deservingly won the Player-of-the-final honour.

“To be picked by RCB after not playing cricket for a while… it is an incredible competition and it is only going to go from strength to strength. Proud to be a part of it and this one (the POTM award) is special,” Molineux said. She had repaid the faith when it mattered the most.

Soph, the leader

During India’s multi-format series against Australia late last year, Perry had walked up to her RCB teammate Shreyanka Patil with a message about her prospective colleague and spin partner Molineux.

“Pez said, ‘Sophie Molineux is a terrific person. You have a lot to learn from her. She is a very experienced player.’ That got me excited. I just wanted to meet her instantly,” Shreyanka revealed.

“After every over she bowled, she would come up to the other spinners and tell them what’s happening on the wicket. You don’t get that from everyone. She would come up and say, ‘there’s something in this area of the wicket. If you bowl here, it will help you.’ She would give those little tips that would be so helpful. One over can change you, one ball can change the whole game,” Shreyanka added.

A day after the tense final, Molineux admitted that the whole night was still a “blur.” She and her compatriots (Perry and Georgia Wareham) would barely have time to digest it all, with a flight scheduled to Bangladesh for a tour.

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“We were really calm. We knew we were up against some world-class players and that it would take just one good over or a couple of wickets to turn the game,” she said.

When asked how she guides the spin groups in the teams she plays for, there was almost a hint of embarrassment. “We made a conscious decision as a group that communication was going to be the key in this tournament, particularly for the spin group as we were playing on different pitches each night,” she told Sportstar.

Smriti’s smile — one akin to that of a gambler’s when their punt pays off — was understandable.

“She is brilliant. She is one of the smartest bowlers I’ve seen in a while. She has a good yorker. She has a slower one that turns and one that goes into the wicket. That’s great news for a captain. Sometimes, she would ask if a player would play a certain delivery or respond to it with a certain shot. That’s it. She would do the rest. She leads (Melbourne) Renegades, so obviously… (she’s tactically sound),” Smriti said.

She was, however, quick to add that not too many insights were passed on as the pair will be on opposite ends in the World Cup.

With her incredible displays at the age-group level, Molineux was always regarded as the next big thing growing up in a country that is used to ruling the world in the sport. It comes as no surprise that she leads the Victoria side which also has the likes of Lanning and Perry.

Molineux attributed a big part of RCB’s change of fortunes to belief. It is incredible how that single factor has guided her comeback to the game. The emphatic performances thereafter have boosted her chances of returning to the XI for Australia’s World Cup title defence in September.