WPL 2024 Smriti Mandhana, Perry Ellyse dazzle as RCB join MI on points table by beating UPW

Bengaluru: Scintillating Smriti Mandhana and peerless Perry Ellyse dazzled as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) got back to winning ways by beating UP Warriorz in Match 11 of the TATA WPL 2024 at Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Monday.

Smriti put on an exhibition in timing and placement to set the platform with a brilliant 50-ball 80, while Perry smashed an attacking 58 (37) as RCB posted a daunting 198/3 after being asked to bat first.

A collective bowling effort then helped the hosts restrict UPW to 175/8 and win the match by 23 runs. RCB camp gave a lap of appreciation to the brilliant home spectators after a win as they signed off the Bengaluru leg with a fantastic win.

Defending 199, Renuka Singh started off well with a first-over maiden. The UPW openers, Alyssa Healy and Kiran Navgire, then got into the groove as they went on the attack.

Healy cracked a couple of sixes over covers off Sophie Devine, while Navgire hit a six and a couple of fours off the next over from Renuka to make it 24 off the over.

Smriti then introduced Sophie Molinuex into the attack, and she brought some control, giving away just six. It helped Devine as she dismissed Navgire in the next over, caught at mid on. Chamari Athapaththu finished the Powerplay with a six and a four to take UPW to 56/1.

While Healy continued to attack, UPW lost three more wickets in quick succession as Georgia Wareham trapped Athapaththu LBW via a successful review, Devine got the big wicket of Grace Harris in the next over with Richa Ghosh pulling off a brilliant catch, and Asha Sobhana had Shweta Sehrawat caught at cover-point off a leading edge.

UPW reached 90/4 at the halfway stage, with half of the runs scored by the captain.

Healy then brought up her half-century off 34 balls, but she couldn't convert it into a big one as, against the run of play, Molineux had her stumped on 55 via some excellent glovework from Ghosh. It was a huge breakthrough for RCB, as Healy was in ominous touch.

With 81 needed off 42, Deepti Sharma and Poonam Khemnar battled hard with a 41-run stand, but the required run rate kept climbing, which brought Sharma's downfall, and it was too tough a task from there on as RCB cruised to a 23-run win.

Earlier, UP Warriorz captain Alyssa Healy won the toss and elected to field.

The home side got off to a fine start as openers Smriti Mandhana and S Meghana added 51 from 5.3 overs. While Mandhana hit a four and a couple of sublime sixes, Meghana was the primary aggressor as she hit five boundaries before miscuing one to extra cover off Anjali Sarvani to depart on 28(21). Ellyse Perry started off in style as she crunched one through covers for a four as RCB reached their highest score of this season's Powerplay - 57/1.

Things slowed down a bit in the next few balls, and the pressure started creeping in slightly. Mandhana looked to up the ante and got lucky twice, as she was, at first, dropped by Athapaththu, who misjudged the catch running in from long off, off Sophie Ecclestone, and then Healy missed her stumping in the next over from Athapaththu.

RCB reached 84/1 at the halfway stage. After another quiet over, Mandhana and Perry upped the ante as the RCB captain lofted one over wide long off for a six off Gayakwad, after Perry had cracked a four off the first ball of the over. The pair brought up the fifty-run stand, off 40 balls. Mandhana then brought up her half-century off 34 balls.

The RCB skipper shifted gears as she cracked three fours each off Athapaththu and Sarvani, to the delight of the vociferous Bengaluru crowd. Deepti, though, returned into the attack and provided some relief for UPW as she got the huge wicket of Mandhana (80 off 50), caught at deep mid-wicket. Perry, however, carried forward the momentum, along with Richa Ghosh, as the pair hit three sixes off Gayakwad to take 21 in the 18th over.

Perry brought up her half-century in style, off 33 balls, thumping one straight down the ground for a four off Sharma before cracking a powerful six over deep mid-wicket to smash the window of the display car.

Perry departed for a scintillating 58(37) in the last over, but Richa Ghosh (21* off 10) finished it off in style with a four to power RCB to 198/3.