Shafali Verma and captain Meg Lanning’s blitzkrieg laid the foundation with their opening stand of 162. And thereafter, United States left-arm medium pacer Tara Norris (5/29) had a field day with the ball as Delhi Capitals recorded a clinical 60-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their Women’s Premier League (WPL) opener at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
For RCB, who won the toss and opted to bowl first, the game seemed to have slipped away once the Capitals posted a massive 223/2, thanks to Shafali’s 45-ball 84 and skipper Lanning’s 72 off 43 balls. There wasn’t any respite for the RCB bowlers even after the duo’s dismissals as South African Marizanne Kapp finished the innings quite well with an unbeaten 39 off just 17 balls.
Jemimah Rodrigues, too, gave Kapp good support scoring 22 not out off 15 balls. The pair put on 60 in 5.1 overs in their unbroken third-wicket stand.
Barring England off-spinner Heather Knight, who accounted for both Lanning and Shafali, almost all the other RCB bowlers had a hard time out in the middle. Pacer Renuka Singh wasn’t too expensive though, going for 24 in her three overs.
Delhi Capitals’s Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly interacts with Tara Norris in Mumbai on Sunday. PTI photo
If RCB were to overhaul the Delhi team’s massive total, their top three — captain Smriti Mandhana, her opening partner Sophie Devine and No.3 Ellyse Perry — had to score big. But the Capitals bowlers ensured all three of them perished even after getting off to starts.
England’s Alice Capsey sent both Mandhana and Devine back and then began the Norris show. The 24-yearold American, who hails from Philadelphia, picked up the next four wickets to fall as RCB were reduced to 93/6 halfway into the 13th over of their reply.
They were 89/2 in the 11th over before Norris dismissed Perry, Disha Kanat, keeper-batter Richa Ghosh and Kanika Ahuja in quick succession. The game was more or less done and dusted.
Norris deservingly got her fifth in the form of Knight as RCB could manage just a 163/8.
“The first wicket was special,” Norris, adjudged Player of the Match, said.
Mumbai favourites
Calcutta: Buoyed by their thumping win in the first game, Mumbai Indians will be mighty confident when they take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in a Women’s Premier League match at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Monday.
The Royal Challengers, on the other hand, will be eager to bounce back after losing to Delhi Capitals on Sunday.
It was Mumbai’s superlative batting which led them to a 143-run win over Gujarat Giants.
Once again the likes of captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Amelia Kerr will be the key for them in Monday’s match.
Royal Challengers will hope that their bowlers do better. They conceded 220-plus on Sunday.
⚫ Today’s match: MI Women vs RCB Women, 7.30pm, Brabourne — Live on Sports18 1
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