Women’s Premier League | Delhi dismantles Royal Challengers Bengaluru with a capital show

Superlative stroke-play from Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma sets up DC’s imposing total; RCB comes a cropper in the chase with American seamer Tara Norris scalping five

Royal Challengers Bangalore looked the team to beat after the auction. Delhi Capitals on Sunday afternoon showed how.

A capital performance with the bat at the top of the order followed by a fine effort with the ball helped Delhi win the second match of the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League by 60 runs on a hot, humid Sunday afternoon at the Brabourne Stadium. An excellent crowd was treated to a superlative display of stroke-play by the Capital openers Meg Lanning (72, 43b, 14x4) and Shafali Verma (84, 45b, 10x4, 4x6) as DC motored along to 223 for two.

Skipper Lanning, fresh from leading Australia to another T20 World Cup victory only a week ago, and her teenaged partner Indian Shafali indicated that theirs could be one of the most formidable opening partnerships of the competition.

Shafali went for the big shots whenever she could, hitting some clean sixes, while Lanning showed her class with some superbly timed shots, including a couple of back-to-back fours off Sophie Devine square of the wicket on the off.

Shafali was the first to reach her 50 off 31 balls, Lanning’s too came off 31. Hundred was up in 9.4 overs.

The breakthrough for RCB would come only nearly four overs later. That was provided by the England captain Heather Knight’s off spin.

She removed both the openers within the space of three balls. If the RBC women heaved a collective sigh of relief, Marizanne Kapp made them feel desperately helpless yet again, as the South African smashed an unbeaten 39 off just 17 balls (3x4, 3x6).