New Zealand's big hitter Sophie Devine has left her Australian teammate Ellyse Perry awe-struck after blasting her way to one of the great white-ball innings in women's cricket.
The veteran Kiwi demonstrated all her famed power as she just missed out on the first-ever century in the new Women's Premier League, blitzing 99 off just 36 balls in Royal Challengers Bangalore's eight-wicket victory over Gujarat Giants on Saturday.
Earlier at the other WPL venue in Mumbai, the DY Patil Stadium, Alyssa Healy's UP Warriorz became the first team to beat the table-topping Mumbai Indians, with some robust hitting from her Australian compatriots Grace Harris and Tahlia McGrath helping them to a five-wicket win.
But it was as nothing compared to the late game at Brabourne Stadium, as the 33-year-old Devine smashed eight sixes with RCB making light work of the Giants' 4-188, reaching their target on 2-189 with 27 balls to spare.
Devine's power hitting was remarkable, as she clattered 84 in boundaries.
She was selfless too, getting caught at mid-off while still trying to boom one over the top in a bid to smash RCB to the quickest possible victory to help their net run-rate, rather than stroking a simple single that would have eased her to the first three-figure score in the league.
She crushed one six into the upper-tier of the stand and admitted afterwards that watching Australian allrounder Ash Gardner crack a six and six fours in her 26-ball 41 for the Giants had been a bit of an education.
"It's been good to see how other batters go about it. So even just watching Ash bat, I learned a lot and just took out the best bits and applied it to how I wanted to bat," said Devine.
Unfortunately for Gardner, Devine also took a fancy to her off-spin, smashing her for 24 off her first over as the Aussie star ended up going for 48 off three.
"Most of the time when I've seen her bat like that, it's been playing against her. So for me selfishly, it's nice to be on her side tonight," smiled Perry, who guided RCB home with 19no.
"There are few people who can do what she did tonight but she's been doing it consistently for years and what she did tonight was special.
"That last shot where she got out typifies Sophie. It's not about runs for her but playing for the team. To be going for a big shot on 99 when cover was open for a single, it speaks volumes to her character as a person."
Devine's innings has kept RCB in the chase for one of the three playoff places as has UP's successful chase of Mumbai's 127, which owed much to McGrath's 38 off 25 balls and Harris's 39 from 28.
