The Women’s Premier League (WPL 2023) had a slow start for Royal Challengers Bangalore but the team picked up pace in the last minute and in a big match, its star batsman Sophie Devine smashed the bowlers to register the biggest score of the tournament. RCB defeated Gujarat Giants by 8 wickets in an explosive manner. Struggling to stay in the playoff race, RCB chased down Gujarat’s tough target of 188 with 27 balls to spare thanks to Devine’s astonishing innings.
Thousands of cricket fans present at the Brabourne Stadium enjoyed tremendous power hitting on Saturday evening. The bat of Sophie Devine (99 runs, 36 balls, 9 fours, 8 sixes) ignited such a fire that even the target of 188 runs was dwarfed. Devine was in turbo mode . She missed just one run before her century, but even in this she laid the foundation for her team’s big win, due to which Bangalore’s hopes of going to the playoffs are not completely broken.
Also read : LAHORE QALANDERS WIN PSL 2023 AFTER BEATING MULTAN SULTANS IN A THRILLER
Gujarat started strongly in this match and the opening pair of Sophia Dunkley and Laura Wolvaardt scored runs. Sophie Devine contributed with the ball before wreaking havoc with the bat and provided some relief by bowling Dunkley.
After that, Laura Wolvaardt first added 63 runs with Sabbineni Meghana and then added 52 runs with Ashley Gardner, further increasing the pace of runs. Wolvaardt was dismissed after scoring her second consecutive half-century (68 runs, 42 balls) laced with dazzling cover drives and wrist placements
Gardner once again batted fast and scored 41 runs in just 26 balls to take the team to a big score. In the last stages, Dayalan Hemlata (16 runs, 6 balls) and Harleen Deol (12 runs, 5 balls) shared an unbeaten 27-run partnership in 9 balls to put Gujarat in front .
After this, the answer given by RCB was hardly expected by anyone. 13 runs came in the first over itself, while in the second over, Sophie Devine hit 24 runs in 5 balls with 3 fours, 2 sixes. RCB scored 77 runs in the powerplay itself.
Sophie Devine completed her half-century in just 20 balls, which was the third fastest half-century of the tournament. Sophie and Mandhana stitched a 125-run partnership in just 9.1 overs, which ended with the wicket of Mandhana (37) who placed some fluent shots , showing signs of getting back to form .
Take part in interesting online quizzes
Devine was batting in turbo mode . She was smashing the bowlers with disdain and hit 8 explosive sixes including one of 83 metres and another of astonishing 94 metres . She was hitting dazzling shots with explosive power as the crowd and the opposition were astonished at her power
Devine, who reached 99 runs in just 35 balls, had a chance to score the first century of the tournament but she thought of playing a big shot for the team and got out. After this Parry (19 not out, 12 balls) and Heather Knight (22 not out, 15 runs) quickly won the third ball of the 16th over.