Mumbai, March 10 () Riding on brilliant performance from spinners Sophie Ecclestone, Deepti Sharma and skipper Alyssa Healy, UP Warriorz thrashed Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 10 wickets in a Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 match at the Brabourne Stadium, here on Friday.
Excellent outings from Ecclestone (4/13) and Deepti (3/26) helped UP Warriorz bowl out RCB for 138 despite a fighting half-century (52 off 39) by Ellyse Perry. After Perry, Sophie Devine (36 off 24) was next top-scorer for RCB as other batters struggled to get going against a disciplined UP bowling attack.
In reply, Healy (96 not out) smashed RCB bowlers all-round the park to score a quickfire fifty and she got perfect support from her opening partner Devika Vaidya Devika Vaidya (36 not out off 31).
None of the RCB bowlers looked effective as Healy and Devika stitched an unbeaten and attacking opening partnership of 139 runs as UP Warriorz chased down the target in just 13 overs.
Earlier, RCB captain Smriti Mandhana won the toss and opted to bat first but she fell early yet again. However, Sophie Devine and Ellyse Perry stitched a crucial stand to give RCB a strong start.
Devine and Perry took RCB to 72/1 after 8 overs and it looked RCB were looking good for a big score. But, once again they suffered a collapse.
It was Ecclestone, who started the slide, knocking over the dangerous Devine and from there the wickets just kept tumbling. With Sharma and Ecclestone bowling quite well, wickets were falling from the other end but Perry was playing aggressively from one end.
RCB had high hopes from Heather Knight but her getting run out was a big blow for them. Desite not getting support from others, Perry played nicely to get her fifty. However, Perry eventually fell off a miscued slog-sweep in the death overs as RCB were bowled out for 138 in 19.3 overs.
Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 138 all out in 19.3 overs (Ellyse Perry 52, Sophie Devine 36; Sophie Ecclestone 4/13, Deepti Sharma 3/26) lost to UP Warriorz 139/0 in 13 overs (Alyssa Healy 96 not out off 47, Devika Vaidya 36 not out) by 10 wickets.
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