Delhi Capitals start their tournament on a high with a 60 run victory over the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Smriti Mandhana won the toss and elected to bowl.
Explosive start
The Capitals openers Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma put on a show by giving an explosive start to the team. Lanning was dismissed for 72 off only 43 deliveries, including 14 boundaries, the pair had put together a 162-run opening partnership in just 14.2 overs. Shafali, who appeared to be in top form, left the field for 83 runs off only 45 balls while hitting 10 boundaries and two monster sixes. Delhi raced to 100 runs at the 10 overs mark after scoring 12 boundaries in the powerplay and accelerating strongly in the middle overs.
Lanning and Shafali were dismissed in the 15th over by the England skipper and off-spinner Heather Knight. Marizanne Kapp continued where the openers left off and continued the assault on the RCB bowlers. The South African batswoman, who had just returned from the T20 World Cup, hit three sixes and three fours in her unbroken 39 off only 17 balls, while Jemimah added superbly with a 22 (34) from just 15 balls. The capitals finished with a total of 223 for 2 in their 20 overs.
In reply, Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine gave a quick start to the Bangalore side. But due to the huge total set by the Capitals, Bangalore was constantly on the backfoot with the required run rate over 11 runs an over. Perry kept the scoreboard ticking after the dismissal of Smriti Mandhana. But the Royal Challengers Bangalore collapsed as they lost 5 wickets for 7 runs. Tara Norris was the pick of the bowlers for Delhi. Knight and Schutt added a 50+ stand, the longest of the innings, to limit the defeat’s margin of victory. RCB ended with 163 runs at a loss of 8 wickets.
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