Delhi Capitals (DC) handed Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) its first defeat of the season, beating it by 25 runs in the Women’s Premier League match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday.
RCB, chasing 195, crossed the 50-run mark inside the PowerPlay, courtesy of skipper Smriti Mandhana’s hard-hitting knock, wherein she scored 45 of the team’s 52 to lead the charge early on.
“I’m super proud of Smriti. Last season, it was pretty tough for her to come out and bat the way that she has this year. It has been fantastic,” Sophie Devine, RCB’s other opener, who, for the most part of the second innings, had the best spot to watch the 43-ball-74, said in the post-match press conference.
“The way she has batted and captained the team has been outstanding, and it’s really oozed confidence.”
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Devine, however, struggled to middle the ball and was dismissed on 23 off 17. Mandhana kept RCB in the hunt with her maiden WPL fifty, but the home team crumbled once she joined Devine back in the pavilion.
“It was quite different for me to be standing down there today while she was smacking it to all corners. But that’s the great thing about T20 cricket, there are going to be times when in the partnership where you’re going to take different roles. And for me today, it was just sitting back and watching her slog it around the ground,” she added.
Capitals also broke the four-match trend of winning the game while chasing, as the batters piled on the RCB bowlers, before limiting the team to 169.
“We bowled pretty poorly with the ball today. We gave up 40 or 50 extra runs with just poor execution with the ball. You can’t give a team like Delhi the opportunity to finish the way they did, and it turned out to be a little bit too much to chase,” said Devine on their bowling.
Devine could only manage nine off her first 12 deliveries when the 26,000-strong crowd in attendance started cheering for her. Devine finally gave the fans something to cheer for after smashing Minnu Mani for back-to-back sixes.
“I’m used to hearing those kinds of cheers for Smriti. It was good to hear that they were calling my name. The turnout has been fantastic here. We know how good and passionate RCB fans are. It’s been unbelievable the last few games. It’s certainly the loudest I’ve been involved in, and having that support has been extremely motivating for the entire group,” she said on the Bengaluru crowd.
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On the batting front, Devine has failed to impress, with only 30 runs in three innings at a strike rate of 107. But she said that there were still five games to go to make amends.
“I simply haven’t had the output I’d like as a batter. I had a six-week break in New Zealand over Christmas, so I didn’t play much cricket. I have to get back into the form. In the training, I’m striking well; all I have to do is give myself a chance,” she said.
“When your batters are performing as well as they have today. Smriti has been outstanding, Richa has also been awesome, and Meghana has been fantastic since moving from Gujarat. I’ve gained confidence that if I or Smriti fail to perform, someone else in the batting order will stand up.”
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