Smriti got her first fifty of the WPL.

Smriti Mandhana took a front row seat in the dugout and was a picture of pure concentration - her helmet on, both hands on the bat she held between her legs and eyes firmly on the pitch even as the cameras zoomed past her a couple of times. Just by the side was Sophie Devine, going through her stretching routines. With the season's record chase of 195 on their hands - or at least the responsibility of the bulk of it - the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain fist-bumped her opening partner, called for first strike and crossed over to the other side of the boundary.

An on-song Smriti Mandhana is a sight to behold, something that the stage of Women's Premier League had been deprived of so far. The WBBL had seen it most recently in 2021, when she hit the then tournament record-equalling 114* off just 64 balls to guide Sydney Thunder's chase against Melbourne Renegades. The (now-defunct) KSL audience, Kumar Sangakkara among them, was mesmerised by it back in 2018 during her record 421-run season with Western Storm. Even the Hundred had been a witness last year, when Mandhana became the first female player in the competition to go past 500 runs.

On Thursday, Mandhana decided to bring the party home. And, to RCB's home.

Whether it was the pressures of being the first and costliest player sold at WPL auctions, or whether it was the pressures of her first big captaincy test in a watershed moment for the women's sport in the country, Mandhana never looked in her element all of the inaugural season in Mumbai despite some of the absolute belters laid out across the two venues and the infamously short boundaries. A year older and a year wiser, Mandhana has now brought out her A game.

The first glimpses of this were seen in RCB's opening game, when she tonked a six down the ground and pulled authoritatively the leg-side short ball next to welcome Tahlia McGrath back to WPL. Against Gujarat Giants, in a modest chase of 108, the skipper launched a flurry of boundaries in her 27-ball 43 to set up a NRR-boosting win. Coming to the Delhi Capitals fixture, Mandhana had some unfinished business.

The southpaw wasted no time in the middle and got going with a four as she stepped out to Marizanne Kapp early. The South African hit back with a short ball down leg side and Mandhana was quick to swivel-pull it to the fine leg fence. Leading from the front, she set the tone by unsettling DC's pace spearhead who had blown away UP Warriorz with a new-ball spell of 4-1-5-3 in her last outing here.

It was no surprise then to see Meg Lanning resort to an offspinner at the other end in her attempt to cut down the early fireworks from the RCB captain. Mandhana's struggles against offspin are well-documented. In just the last WPL, the left-hander lost her wicket to off-break bowlers a staggering five out of the eight innings. It's a match-up Mandhana would have herself expected in the PowerPlay, only this time she had the last laugh. Minnu Mani tossed one up and right in the slot and the RCB captain slog-swept it over cow-corner with disdain. Another flighted delivery on leg and Mandhana cleared her front leg to swing through the line and into the midwicket ropes. Another subplot won.

Not just concentration, Mandhana's footwork remained impeccable through the night as she used the depth of the crease well, shuffling across to often fetch the pulls from outside off. The pull was, in fact, her most productive shot of the day fetching her 27 runs, inclusive of four boundaries and a six. Given that the uneven dimensions of the ground meant the legside boundary was shorter and, thereby, easier to target, Mandhana was admittedly fixated on that. The fielders in the arc between deep square leg and long-on were kept on their toes constantly as she picked up 42 of her 74 runs in the region, including all three of her sixes.

"The way the women's game is progressing, I had to put in a bit of work in terms of legside shots," Mandhana told former head coach turned broadcaster WV Raman when asked about the improvements she's made to her on-side game. "Plus, I think the boundary on the leg side was pretty short today so my eyes were constantly on targeting that boundary."

There were no premeditated shots though, all of it just fine strokeplay combined with great awareness as she pierced the gap fluently on the offside too, and cleverly steered some behind the square to keep runs trickling in. The drought-breaking 31-ball half-century, her maiden in the short history of the competition, saw merely half a bat raise towards the dugout, accompanied by a fierce look of a batter so zoned-in she didn't have time to celebrate.

On her part though, Devine walked up to Mandhana to give her a well-deserved pat for a classy knock. Incidentally, it was quite the role reversal for the White Ferns captain, who posted a stunning 36-ball 99 last season with Mandhana playing a mere spectator at the other end. Today, Devine had faced all of 12 deliveries before the southpaw raced to her fifty in the eighth over.

"Yeah, it was. It's quite different for me to be standing down there today while she was smoking it to all corners. But, that's the great thing about cricket and about T20 cricket as there's going to be times in a partnership that you're going to take different roles and for me today it was just sitting back and watching her go all around the ground," said Devine who contributed a 17-ball 23 to the 77-run opening stand.

"Last year was pretty tough on her, so for Smriti to come out and bat the way that she has this season has been fantastic. The way that she's batted and the way that she has captained the team has been outstanding and she's really oozed confidence."

At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, the support for RCB and Mandhana has been unwavering and the decibel levels unmatched. The captain duly decided to drop in a little 'thank you' with a personal touch.

It didn't eventually pan out the way RCB would have wanted. Her wicket in the 12th over, followed by that of Richa Ghosh in the 16th, triggered a death-overs collapse akin their death-bowling debacle earlier in the evening. But for RCB, the return to form of their captain is a big box ticked moving forward in the competition. Select few sections of the 25,000-strong local supporters, who have been religiously turning up for their home team, stayed back for a last round of cheering just ahead of the post-match presentations. The Orange Cap is home, even if for a night.