Kanika Ahuja she proved to be the star as she led RCB’s counterattack with her 46-run hitting and also shared a crucial 60-run stand with Richa Gosh for the sixth wicket in pursuit of 136. Following Kanika’s dismissal, Richa (31*) upped the ante to bring RCB home with two overs to spare.
Scoreboard | It happened
After opting to bowl, Bangalore produced a superb bowling effort to group UP Warriorz for 135 in 19.3 overs. Sophie Devine and Megan Schutt sparked the top order collapse before Asha Sobhana’s double strike reduced UP to 31 for 5 in 8.1 overs.
But Grace Harris he once again came to the rescue of UP with a magnificent hitting 46 and added 69 runs in quick time with Deepti Sharma, who played second fiddle. Ellyse Perry replied as she sent the duo back in three ball space and helped RCB limit UP to a below average total.
Sophie Devine got RCB off to a flying start, but once she crashed, they lost the top four in no time. Kanika and Richa played brilliantly to forge a winning position.
Youngsters Kanika Ahuja and Richa Ghosh to the rescue of @RCBTweets 🫡#RCB record their first WIN in #TATAWPL 🥳… https://t.co/L5CE0UTEXz
— Women’s Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) 1678901378000
Smriti Mandhana (0) had to endure yet another flop show with the bat. The RCB captain was cleared by Deepti Sharma on the third ball he tackled.
Devika Vaidya got the key turn in the seventh after catching Perry (10) from Sophie Ecclestone and in the ninth, Deepti Sharma removed the dangerous Heather Knight (24), caught by Kiran Navgire, with 60 runs on the board.
In the first half of the match, Perry was magnificent with the ball for RCB despite being introduced late.
The right-arm seamstress halted the UP Warriorz’ charge when the pairing of Grace Harris (46) and Deepti (22) threatened to take RCB off the game, and also represented Shweta Sehrawat (6) to post figures of 4- 0-16 -3.
Harris missed a deserving half-century, falling for 46 off 32 balls with five fours and two sixes.
Harris and Deepti spearheaded the recovery for UP Warriorz – reeling at one point to 31/5 – with a spirited 69-run stand taking them over the 100-run mark. Harris made most of the lifeline given by Richa Ghosh, who missed a regulation stranding Sobhana Asha when the batsman was only up nine.
Devine set the tone for RCB with two wickets in the first over to come back with 4-0-23-2, Sobhana Asha had plenty of rounds during an impactful 4-0-27-2 and Megan Schutt had produced a measly 4-0-21-1 spell to cap off a combined bowling show for RCB.
Before the start of the contest, former RCB captain Virat Kohli met with the team and also spoke to Mandhana, whose torrid run with the bat continued.
In their previous meeting at Brabourne Stadium on 10 March, UP Warriorz had crushed RCB with a whopping 10 wickets in a one sided match with Alyssa Healy scoring a stunning 96 not out in the winning cause.
(with PTI inputs)
