RCB’s Sophie Devine ‘super proud’ of opening partner Smriti after skipper’s valiant knock against DC

BENGALURU: Royal Challengers Bangalore all-rounder Sophie Devine lavished praise on skipper Smriti Mandhana for her valiant 74-run knock against Delhi Capitals at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, saying the way left-hander batter it “oozed confidence of the team”.

Fighting valiantly while chasing a colossal target of 195, RCB found themselves faltering in the dying embers of the game to concede a 25-run loss on Thursday. Skipper Smriti was in dream touch, smashing the bowlers to all corners of the park but it eventually didn’t come to fruition as RCB their first loss of the season.

Smriti’s knock in an opening stand of 77 with Sophie was the brightest point for RCB in their loss which praise from the Sophie.

“Yeah, look, I’m super proud of Smriti. I think last season was pretty tough for her. For her to come out and bat the way that she has this year has been fantastic. I think the way that she’s batted, the way that she’s captained the team has been outstanding, and it’s really oozed confidence,” Sophie said at the post-match press conference.

“It was quite different for me to be standing down there today while she was smacking it to all corners. But that’s the great thing about cricket and about T20 cricket is there’s going to be times where in the partnership that you’re going to take different roles. And for me today, it was just sitting back and watching her slog it round the ground,” she added.

Sophie, who put up an all-round show with 2-23 for three overs before striking 23 off 17, has been impressed with the skipper’s handling of her bowling attack so far.

She also remarked that RCB had a well-rounded bowling attack with “literally every option possible” but had an off day on Thursday. “But we back ourselves to come back strongly against Mumbai,” Sophie added.

RCB will now take on the Mumbai team in their fourth home game at Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.