Sophie Ecclestone (4/13) and Deepti Sharma (3/26) starred with the ball while captain Alyssa Healy put on a sensational show with the bat, hammering an unbeaten 96 off 47 balls, as UP Warriorz (UPW) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 10 wickets in Match 8 of the TATA Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 at the Brabourne Stadium – CCI in Mumbai on Friday.
After bowling out RCB for 138, UPW made a cracking start in the chase, courtesy Healy and Devika Vaidya, who powered the team to 55/0 at the end of the powerplay. The UPW openers continued to score at a rapid pace, giving no respite to RCB bowlers.
Healy then notched up a stunning fifty in just 28 balls as UPW zoomed past the 100-run mark in the 10th over. Healy then upped the ante even further and went on to score 46 runs more off just 19 balls while Vaidya, who played a fine supporting role, scoring 36* off 31 balls, as UPW marched towards a victory with seven overs to spare.
Earlier, RCB, who elected to bat, got off to a brisk start as Sophie Devine cut loose. However, UPW struck back In the third over as Rajeshwari Gayakwad dismissed RCB captain Smriti Mandhana. Perry then joined Devine in the middle and the two kept the scorecard ticking as RCB moved to 54/1 at the end of powerplay.
However, Sophie Ecclestone, who bowled the 9th over of the match, won the battle of Sophies as she got Devine out. Perry though continued to make merry and brought up a brisk half-century in 35 balls as RCB sailed past the 100-run mark in the 12th over even as Kanika Ahuja and Heather Knight got out in quick succession.
Snehanka Patil was the next batter to get out before Deepti got the huge wicket of Perry in the 17th over. UPW then continued to chip away as RCB lost their last four wickets for 13 runs.
Brief Scores: UP Warriorz 139/0 (Alyssa Healy 96*, Devika Vaidya 36*) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 138 all out (Ellyse Perry 52, Sophie Devine 36; Sophie Ecclestone 4/13) by 10 wickets