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Skipper Alyssa Healy's sensational 96 not out along with clinical bowling performances from Sophie Ecclestone and Deepti Sharma powered UP Warriorz bowlers to a dominating 10-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in a Women's Premier League (WPL) 2023 match at the Brabourne Stadium, here on Friday.
This was UP's second win in three matches and they are at third spot in the points table while RCB suffered their fourth consecutive loss to stay at the bottom. 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. Chasing a small target, Healy helped UP get off to a flying start. She hit eight out of the 10 fours that were scored in the powerplay to dismantle RCB's bowling attack as UP raced to 55 in the first six overs. While Healy was hitting the boundary regularly, her opening partner Devika Vaidya, who was promoted up the order, did a perfect job of second fiddle by rotating the strike and picking up the odd boundary. Even after the powerplay, Healy continued to slam RCB bowlers and reached her first WPL fifty in just 29 balls. Whether it was Renuka Thakur, Erin Burns or Perry, nobody wasn't spared by the UP skipper. With her attacking knock, UP needed 12 at that stage off eight overs and Healy needed 10 more for a three-figure score. However, Devika's four off Shreyanka put a dent on Healy's prospects of becoming the first centurion of the WPL. She did get to 95 with a boundary off Shreyanka with one more needed for UPW. Eventually, Healy took a single as the winning run 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. --IANS ak/ ( 538 Words) 2023-03-10-22:58:01 (IANS)
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