WPL 2024: Sophie Devine “Super Proud” of Smriti Mandhana After RCB Skipper’s Valiant Knock vs DC

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Royal Challengers Bangalore's New Zealand all-rounder Sophie Devine was full of praise for her opening partner Smriti Mandhana following the skipper's vailant knock against Delhi Capitals in match 7 of Women's Premier League (WPL) 2024.

It was an evening of role reversal in the continuing mutual admiration saga between skipper Smriti and her opening partner, the great Kiwi all-rounder Devine, who has often been the dominant batter in their outings as openin pair in WPL.

After overawing Smriti with her blitzing 99 during the inaugural WPL last year, it was Sophie's turn to return the compliment as she watched her captain smash 74 against RCB's Delhi opponents on Thursday (February 29) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Smriti's knock in an opening stand of 77 with Sophie was the brightest point for RCB in their first loss of the season following back-to-back victories, and that innings drew praise from the New Zealand captain.

"Yeah, look, I'm super proud of Smriti. I think last season was pretty tough for her. For her to come out and bat the way that she has this year has been fantastic. I think the way that she's batted, the way that she's captained the team has been outstanding, and it's really oozed confidence," Sophie said at the post-match press conference.

"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 cricket and about T20 cricket is there's going to be times where in the partnership that you're going to take different roles. And for me today, it was just sitting back and watching her slog it round the ground.

Sophie, who put up an all-round show with 2/23 for three overs before striking 23 off 17, has been impressed with the skipper's handling of her bowling attack so far.

She also remarked that RCB had a well-rounded bowling attack with "literally every option possible" but had an off day on Thursday. "But we back ourselves to come back strongly against Mumbai," Sophie further added.

RCB will now look for a quick response when they take on the Mumbai Indians in their fourth home game of the season at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday (March 2).

Source: Media Release