Smriti Mandhana’s Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have kick-started the 2024 Women’s Premier League (WPL) campaign on a winning after beating UP Warriorz by two runs. The contest played at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium saw RCB mount a late comeback despite the UP Warriorz being in control of the run chase on Saturday (Feb 24) evening. Sobhana Asha was the hero of the hour for RCB as her spell of 22/5 helped RCB break the duck on the points table in the opening match.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!UP Warriorz collapse during the chase
Needing to chase 158 runs, UP made a good start to the chase as they countered the RCB bowling attack. The Warriorz were 126/3 in the 16th over and needed 32 runs to win with four overs remaining in the match. However, it was Sobhana’s match-winning spell that turned the game on its head and in favour of RCB as she scalped five wickets.
Grace Harris (38) and Shweta Sehrawat (31) stitched a 71-run stand for the fourth wicket and almost got their team home before the late collapse. RCB used seven bowlers during the innings with Georgia Wareham and Sophie Molineux also getting a wicket each.
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What happened in RCB innings
Earlier, RCB were put into bat after the Warriorz had won the toss with the hosts losing Sophie Devine (1) getting out in the first powerplay. Captain Smriti Mandhana also had an off opening day as she was dismissed for 13. However, it was the partnership of Sabbhineni Meghana (53) and Richa Ghosh (62) that laid the foundation for the big score. The pair put together 71 runs for the fourth wicket before Warriorz came back with the ball. As a result, RCB scored 157/6 in their 20 overs in the opening match of the WPL 2024.
Rajeshwari Gayakwad was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 24/2 while Grace Harris, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Ecclestone and Deepti Sharma claimed one wicket each.
RCB will next take on Gujarat Giants (GG) on Tuesday (Feb 27) while UP Warriorz will be in action on Monday against last season’s runners-up Delhi Capitals.
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