WPL 2023: Shafali Verma 'Narrowly' Misses Out on Maiden T20 Century
DC posted 223 [Twitter]
When the chins are down, great players find a way to rise above the Ashes. Shafali Verma did that just in the second game of the Women's Premier League (WPL), against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Sunday.
Smriti Mandhana won the toss and elected to bowl first. That was the only correct decision she made throughout the first innings as Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma took them to the cleaners.
Shafali, who had been out of touch as of late, was in some mood against the RCB bowlers, who lacked the cutting edge. The plan was simple - Lanning and Shafali didn't allow RCB's potent bowlers, Megan Schutt and Renuka Thakur to settle in properly.
The boundary floodgates opened right from the second over and it didn't stop till the last ball of the innings. Lanning, the senior pro helped Shafali throughout the innings and the youngster looked confident under the guidance of her captain.
The Under-19 World Cup winner took a special liking towards the spinners - Asha Shobana, and Preeti Bose, as the spin duo went for a combined 64 runs in 6 overs.
Shafali smacked 10 fours and 4 sixes, and looked all set to bring up her maiden T20 century, but Heather Knight had some other plans. The England skipper got rid off Lanning, and in the same over, she bowled a slower leg-break and enticed Shafali to go for the big slog. She misses the connection as the thin-edge went straight into the hands of the keeper.
Marizanne Kapp, promoted at number three and Jemimah Rodrigues, provided the late flurry, as Delhi Capitals posted a mammoth 223 for 2 in their allotted 20 overs.
 "Anurag Dasgupta")