RCB vs DC, WPL 2023: RCB Player Ratings as Smriti Mandhana and Co. suffer thumping defeat after terrible bowling display

The Delhi Capitals (DC) hammered the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 60 runs in Match 2 of the 2023 Women's Premier League (WPL) at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday, March 5.

Openers Shafali Verma and Meg Lanning led the way for the Capitals, scoring 84 and 72, respectively. They had support from Marizanne Kapp and Jemimah Rodrigues, who played delightful cameos to take DC to 223/2. RCB were never in the hunt in the chase as Tara Norris scalped five wickets to walk away with the Player of the Match award.

Here are RCB's player ratings from their WPL 2023 clash against DC.

WPL 2023, RCB vs DC: Strange team selection leads to first loss for Smriti Mandhana and Co.

One brings two 😃

Heather Knight with the much needed breakthroughs for @RCBTweets🔥🔥

#DC lose both openers in the same over!

Follow the match ▶️ bit.ly/3yeuPaO

#TATAWPL | #RCBvDC https://t.co/CEFRgAanYS

Smriti Mandhana: 6/10

Smriti was RCB's top scorer with a quickfire 35, but the shot she played to get dismissed was rather tame. Also in focus was her captaincy, which was thoroughly pedestrian as DC ran away with the game. The skipper cannot afford to be this sub-par with her bowling changes and field placements.

Sophie Devine: 4/10

Devine had a rough outing with the ball as her only over went for 20 runs. While she gave it her all on the field, she managed only 14 runs before a stunning catch from Shafali put her back in the dugout.

Ellyse Perry: 7/10

Perry was one of three RCB bowlers to have an economy rate of under 10, with her three overs going for 29 runs. She played a superb cameo with the bat, scoring 31 off 19, but played a rather rash shot to be castled by Norris. The Aussie is bound to be one of the standout players in WPL 2023 in all three departments.

Disha Kasat: 3/10

Disha made only nine runs, with her innings not justifying her potential. The top-order batter should be backed by RCB, though.

Heather Knight: 8/10

Knight was undoubtedly RCB's best performer in their opening game of WPL 2023. She picked up both DC wickets to fall with her part-time off-spin, although she was a touch expensive. The English batter made 34 valuable runs to salvage the team's net run rate to an extent.

Richa Ghosh: 4/10

Ghosh took a good catch to dismiss Shafali but couldn't make an impact with the bat in hand. The youngster holed out at long-on after making just two runs.

Asha Shobana: 2/10

The highly rated Shobana endured a tough welcome to the WPL. Her two overs went for 29 runs as Lanning and Shafali tore into her, and she scored only two runs before being bounced out by Shikha Pandey.

Megan Schutt: 4.5/10

Schutt was one of only two RCB bowlers to send down their quota of four overs, and her radar was totally off as she leaked 45 runs. She somewhat made up for it with the bat, though, scoring 30 runs when the game was already lost.

Preeti Bose: 5/10

Bose didn't offer much wicket-taking threat during her four overs, which went for 35 runs. She did finish as RCB's second-most economical bowler, though.

Kanika Ahuja: 1/10

Kanika was another RCB player who couldn't make an impact on Sunday. She didn't bowl and bagged a first-ball duck.

Renuka Singh Thakur: 6/10

Renuka, with an economy rate of eight, was the most frugal bowler on display in the first innings. She got the new ball to nip around a little bit, but ended up with no wickets to her name.