The M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru was witness to some terrific hitting from Royal Challengers Bangalore batters in a Women’s Premier League match against UP Warriorz on Monday. Engaging fifties by skipper Smriti Mandhana and star all-rounder Elsyse Perry took Royal Challengers Bangalore to a formidable 198 for three in 20 overs. Looking to get out of a two-match losing streak, RCB promoted S Meghana into the opening slot in place of Sophie Devine and the move paid off.
Meghana and Mandhana (80, 50b, 10×4, 3×6) added 51 runs in 5.3 overs to give the Royal Challengers a strong platform and the hosts ended the Power Play at 57 for 1, their best in WPL 2.
Mandhana in the company of Perry (58, 37b, 4×4, 4×6) added 95 runs off just 64 balls for the second wicket to optimise that start as the UP bowlers wilted under constant heat.
The left-hander’s timing was stunning as she played shots all around the park and treated spinners with disdain. It will give her a lot of confidence as she often tends to get stuck against the tweakers.
Mandhana, who was dropped on 28, was particularly severe on off-spinner Chamari Athapathuthu and left-arm pacer Anjali Sarvani, who she carted for a slew of fours and sixes.
But slog-sweep of off-spinner Deepti Sharma ended in the hands of Poonam Khemnar at deep mid-wicket to silence the roaring RCB fans.
However, Perry, who smashed left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad for two successive sixes, and Richa Ghosh added 42 runs off 18 balls for the third wicket as RCB motored on to a strong total. One of her sixes even went on to break the display car’s window.
The Warriorz’s chase did not have much to write home about except a fifty (55, 38b, 7×4, 3×6) by captain Alyssa Healy as it ended at 175/8.
Vrinda ruled out
Warriorz’s Vrinda Dinesh is ruled out of the remainder of the WPL after suffering a shoulder injury during the match against Mumbai Indians here on February 28.
The UP side has signed wicket-keeper batter Uma Chetry as a replacement at her base price of Rs 10 lakhs.
Uma recently played for India A against England A and was also a part of the India A Emerging squad that won the ACC Emerging Women’s Asia Cup 2023.
RCB also made a change to the side, benching injured Shreyanka Patil for veteran Ekta Bisht.
