4. Sophie Devine’s 99 off 36 balls
Sophie Devine (Source: Twitter)
The inaugural season of the Women’s T20 League was not an ideal season for the Bangalore franchise. The team lost the first five games in the league stage and ended up at the bottom of the tournament. However, Smriti Mandhana and company clinched two victories in the last three games to end with high morale. After losing the first five games, Bangalore was playing a do-or-die game against UP and they eventually won it by five wickets.
The team still had to beat Gujarat and Mumbai in the next two games to qualify for the playoffs. They were squared off against Gujarat in the 16th game of the tournament. After winning the toss, Gujarat opted to bat first and the decision went well with the team. As Gujarat posted 188 runs after losing four wickets in 20 overs. Star South Africa batter Laura Wolvaardt shined with the bat for Gujarat as she hammered 62 runs off 48 balls to sail her team to a comfortable total.
While chasing 189 runs Bangalore opener Sophie Devine and Smriti Mandhana started toying with Gujarat’s bowling unit. Sophie, in her carnage, hammered 99 runs off 36 balls with the help of nine boundaries and eight maximums. After scoring the highest individual score in the tournament Sophie threw her wicket just before completing a much-deserved century. Bangalore eventually beat Gujarat by 8 wickets to survive in the tournament.
