The 34 year old man Royal Challengers Bangalore Women (RCB-W) All-rounder Sophie Devine got an early reprieve during the World Cup Qualifiers. Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 against Mumbai Indians Women (MI-W) on Friday, March 15 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
Royal Challengers Bangalore Women won the toss and opted to bat first in the high-profile match. Smriti Mandhana & Co. fielded the same XI that toppled Mumbai Indian Women in the previous clash, while the Harmanpreet Kaur-led team made a change with Yastika Bhatia returning in place of Priyanka Bala.
RCB-W got off to a good start in the match as Sophie Devine and Smriti Mandhana took the team on a flight by smashing the Mumbai Indians bowlers for boundaries.
While Devine was trying to play an attacking brand of cricket, a strange incident occurred on the fourth ball of the first over. Star pacer Shabnim Ismail delivered a delivery of 112.3 km/h at Devine. The RCB-W batsman only managed to get an inside edge and the ball hit the leg stump. However, Sophie Devine was very lucky as her stumps lit up but the bails remained intact. Additionally, she got four runs as the ball slipped towards fine leg for a four.
Meanwhile, Sophie Devine failed to make the most of the opportunity she got when she fell to a peach from Hayley Matthews in the second over of the innings.
On the last ball of the over, Matthews bowled an absolute peach at a speed of 83.1 kmph. The fly ball went off the stump and Devine played on the wrong line and saw his stumps shake. Devine was in disbelief after his dismissal and had to return to the dugout after scoring just 10 runs off 7 balls, with 2 fours.
Notably, Sophie Devine has always struggled against the Mumbai Indians Women in the Women’s Premier League (WPL), averaging just 7.80 in five matches against the team.
See the incidents involving Sophie Devine here:
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Making a bright start; Indian feet from Mumbai! 🔥
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— Women’s Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 15, 2024
Speaking before the match, Sophie Devine spoke about RCB-W’s dominant win against MI-W in their previous match, where Ellyse Perry annihilated the Harmanpreet Kaur-led team. However, she was aware of the fact that the Indian women of Mumbai would come back with a vengeance. She said:
“It’s good to be here in this position after a pretty tough season last season. Being able to come out ahead and get a good win against Mumbai the other day… but today everything starts from scratch. We know we haven’t played our best cricket. Our last game was pretty close to where we have been after the entire tournament. Although we have a little confidence, we know that this Mumbai team is going to come back strongly.”
Sophie Devine further expressed hope for RCB-W’s good performance against MI-W. She said:
“I certainly hope so (it gained momentum at the right time). There has been a lot of talk about our best cricket being ahead of us and I certainly think that remains the case today. It’s a delicious matchup today against Mumbai, the current champions. Hopefully we can do a good performance. We know that when we are at our best, we will be you too.gh to beat.”