WPL 2023: Top batting performances from the league stage
WPL 2023: Top batting performances from the league stage of Women's Premier League. Sophie Devine's 99 off 36 balls tops the chart.
The inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) is in full swing, and now has entered the elimination round.
Three teams which have qualified for the knockout matches are Delhi Capitals who are on top of the point table, Mumbai Indians placed second on the point table, and UP Warriorz.
Here is a list of the batters who performed miraculously to take their teams further in the WPL.
Sophie Devine (99 off 36 against Gujarat Giants)
New Zealand's big hitter Sophie Devine has left everyone awe-struck after her blistering innings for RCB-W against Gujarat Giants (GG).
The 33-year-old Kiwi veteran demonstrated her superpower ability with a bat, but unfortunately missed out the first-ever century in the WPL. She raced to 99 off just 36 balls in a do-or-die match for Royal Challengers Bangalore against GG. Devine smashed eight sixes and nine fours, collecting a total of 84 runs from boundaries. Her strike rate was 275.00. She smashed a 94-metre six that went into the upper-tier of the stand, and was registered as the biggest one in the WPL.
This innings of hers would be remembered as one of the most selfless innings in the history of cricket. She got caught at mid-off while trying to go for a massive shot over the top in a bid to take RCB to the quickest possible victory to help their net run-rate, rather than just going for a single run that would have completed her first ever century in the league. She played an entirely different innings, with every ball she was trying to convey a statement that RCB were still there in the game.
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Shafali Verma (76 off 28 against Gujarat Giants)
India’s teen batting sensation Shafali Verma's innings of 76 off 28 balls against GG was a fierce display of power game. She scored the fifty in just 19 deliveries, which was the fastest half-century by an Indian in the WPL.
Delhi Capitals (DC) chased down the target of 106 runs in the eighth over with all 10 wickets to spare as Verma added 26 runs after her fifty to end at 76 runs off 28 balls. She demolished GG bowlers mercilessly. Standing up to her image as a power-hitter, Verma scored 70 runs through boundaries, in which 10 fours and five sixes were included. Her strike rate was above 271.
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