By S. Asha’s five-wicket haul was the game-changer as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) began their Women’s Premier League 2024 campaign with a thrilling two-run victory over UP Warriorz. Asha’s brilliant spell was supported by crucial contributions from S. Meghana and Richa Ghosh with the bat.
RCB got off to a shaky start in their innings, losing early wickets of Sophie Devine, Smriti Mandhana, and Ellyse Perry. However, Meghana’s aggressive batting, supported by Ghosh, revived the innings. Meghana’s attacking innings, including three boundaries in an over, provided the much-needed momentum. Ghosh, after a steady start, unleashed her power-hitting, smashing four boundaries in an over to shift the momentum in RCB’s favor. The duo added 71 runs for the fourth wicket before Meghana was dismissed for a well-made half-century.
Ghosh continued her onslaught, hitting three consecutive boundaries in the 18th over. Despite a late flourish from Shreyanka Patil, RCB posted a competitive total of 157/6 in 20 overs.
In response, UP Warriorz had a mixed start, with Renuka Thakur keeping them in check early on. Alyssa Healy’s aggressive approach was short-lived as she was bowled by Sophie Molineux. Vrinda Dinesh showed promise but was eventually stumped off Asha’s bowling, who then bowled Tahlia McGrath to dent UPW further.
Despite a solid partnership between Grace Harris and Shweta Sehrawat, Asha’s decisive over in the 17th changed the game. She dismissed Sehrawat, had a decision overturned against Navgire, and cleaned up Harris to tilt the game in RCB’s favor.
Poonam Khenmar and Deepti Sharma tried to keep UPW in the hunt with aggressive hitting, but some tight bowling from RCB, especially in the final over from Sophie Molineux, restricted them to 155/7 in 20 overs, falling just two runs short of the target.
Brief Scores: RCB 157/6 in 20 overs (Ghosh 62, Meghana 53; Rajeshwari Gayakwad 2-24) beat UP Warriorz 155/7 in 20 overs (Harris 38, Sehrawat 31; Asha 5-22) by 2 runs
