Women’s Premier League 2023: Tara Norris’s five-wicket haul helps Delhi Capitals to crush Royal Challengers Bangalore


Tara Norris scripted history during the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 match between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Norris, a left-arm medium pacer, sealed the fate of the match in just two overs. In her WPL debut, she took wickets of some renowned batters in the world and became the first player to take a fifer in WPL, guiding DC to a remarkable 60-run victory over RCB in their campaign opener on Sunday.

After being put into bat first, DC had a fabulous start as Shafali Verma and Meg Lanning produced one of the best opening knocks in T20 in women’s cricket history, adding 162 runs for the opening wicket. Both dominated the RCB bowlers and scored quick runs. Shafali reached her half-century in just 31 balls while captain Lanning brought up her fifty in just 30 balls.

Heather Knight drew the first blood in the 15th over by cleaning up Lanning for 72. She then dismissed Shafali (84) in the same over. Marizanne Kapp and Jemimah Rodrigues played a cameo of 39 and 22, helping DC to post a huge total of 223/2 in 20 overs.

In reply, RCB’s opening pair of Smriti Mandhana (35) and Sophie Devine (14) started the enormous chase of 224 with a bang. The RCB skipper hit boundaries on a consistent basis. But Alice Capsey dismissed both the openers in a span of two overs. Then it was Norris’s show as she initiated the RCB’s collapse by cleaning up Ellyse Perry, who played a cameo of 31. Megan Schutt scored a quick-fire 30 but that was not enough to take RCB home.