The experience and love will stay with me for a long time, says Sophie Devine

It was a Saturday night to remember for long for New Zealand captain Sophie Devine and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Womens Premier League WPLIn the sides incredible chase of 189 against Gujarat Giants at the Brabourne Stadium Sophie left everyone enthralled through her electrifying 36ball 99 laced with eight sixes and nine fours which also became the highest score of the inaugural edition of WPL though she missed out on a century by just one runEven after Sophie got out on 99 the crowd was on their feet much like the entire RCB dugout doffing their hat to an outstanding exhibition of powerhitting they witnessed with every corner of the stadium chanting her name loud and clearAfter the match ended Sophie was appreciative of the love she got during the matchIm so used to hearing chants for Perry and Mandhana and was feeling a bit left out To hear your name and experience this atmosphere it will stay with me for a very long time she said to broadcasters Sports18 and JioCinemaFor the record this was the third time Sophie scored a 99 in a T20 match Twice she has remained unbeaten on 99 In 2010 playing for Wellington Women against Northern Districts and nine years later for Adelaide Strikers against Hobart HurricanesIf Sophie would have reached her century she would have equalled her own record of the fastest century in womens T20s off 36 balls in the Super Smash 202021In the process Sophie also became the leading runscorer of the competition going past Delhi Capitals skipper Meg Lanning Her power hitting was remarkable as she collected 84 runs through boundariesAlso readWPL 2023 Laura Wolvaardt helps Gujarat Giants post 1884 v RCBBut the standout moment of her knock came in the ninth over off Tanuja Kanwar Sophie deposited the ball into the second tier of the stadium via a 94metre long hoick The righthanded batter said that was her favourite shot of the matchI think the one I got up there into the second tier I was pretty happy with Cricket can be so fickle Ive been struggling for six to nine months if I have to be completely honest To have some freedom on these wickets was good the New Zealand cricketer saidCaptain Smriti Mandhana couldnt stop raving about Sophies daredevilryMy job was just to get a single and get Sophie on strike A few of the sixes were really massive Mandhana said after the end of the gameHer teammate Australias premier allrounder Ellyse Perry was also in praise of blitzkrieg from Sophies batThere are few people who can do what she did tonight but shes been doing it consistently for years and what she did tonight was special To be fair that last shot where she got out typifies Sophie Its not about runs for her but playing for the team said PerryThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever