Delhi Capitals registered a thumping victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2nd match of the WPL on Sunday (March 5) at the Brabourne Stadium. It was DC-W who started off the tournament with a 60-run win over RCB-W.
Women's Premier League witnessed the arrival of Indian batter Shafali Verma who powered Delhi Capitals to a massive total. After being put into bat, DC-W had the perfect start through Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma.
The pair stitched the first-ever century partnership in WPL's history as they amassed a massive 162 runs for the opening wicket.
Shafali scored 84 runs off 45 balls while captain Meg Lanning scored 72 runs off 43 balls. A late flurry by Marizanne Kapp (39 off 17 balls) took Delhi comfortably beyond the 200 mark as they finished at 223/2 after their full quota of overs. Heather Knight was the only RCB bowler with success as she picked up both wickets.
It was an uphill task for RCB-W to chase the target down, and RCB knew they need a strong start. They had that through captain Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine as the pair added 41 runs in just four overs. But after Devine's dismissal, it all went downhill for them. Mandhana (35 off 23 balls) played a gutsy inning but perished and Ellyse Perry's (31 off 19 balls) dismissal also put a massive dent in their chasing dreams.
Delhi Capitals played with 5 overseas players, as the WPL rule suggests a team playing an associate nation player can field five overseas players. DC-W were the only team to buy an associate player in the auction as they secured the services of USA pacer Tara Norris. And Norris proved her worth in the very first match, running through the RCB-W middle order. The 24-year-old picked up five wickets to break the back of the RCB-W run chase as Ellyse Perry and Richa Ghosh were among her victims. The USA bowler ended up with a stellar figure of 5/29, which is also the first five-for in WPL history.
Alexa, please play The Weeknd – Stargirl 🌟
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) March 5, 2023
Our 🇺🇸 pacer, Tara Norris is shining bright 😍#YehHaiNayiDilli #CapitalsUniverse #TATAWPL #RCBvDC pic.twitter.com/IYVmdHK9y7
Heather Knight and Megan Schutt made some hefty blows but in the end, it was too much for them to do as RCB only managed 163/8 at the end of their full overs.
RCB-W next match: RCB-W will be taking on Mumbai Indians (MI-W) in the next match on Monday (March 6) at the Brabourne Stadium.
DC-W next match: DC-W will be up against UP Warriorz in their next match on Tuesday (March 7) at the DY Patil Sports Academy.