RCB vs UPW HIGHLIGHTS, WPL 2023: Healy 96 powers Warriorz to 10-wicket win, Bangalore suffers fourth defeat

Vaidya gets a single. Healy attempts to find the fence by stepping out but only gets a single at long-off. Short from Shreyanka and Devika guides the ball through backward point for FOUR. A single to follow. Low full-toss and Healy reverse-sweeps the ball through point for FOUR. Healy drags a length ball to deep mid-wicket and finishes on 96 not out as UP Warriorz thrashes RCB by 10 wickets!

Fraction short from Perry and Healy opens the face of the bat and guides the ball past the keeper for FOUR. Perry follows up with a yorker past Healy’s blade. Short from Perry and Healy slaps the ball in front of square for two runs. Length from Perry and Healy pumps the ball down the ground for FOUR. Healy moves to 90 with a single. Vaidya retains strike with a single.

Burns returns and Vaidya finds a single off the first ball. Burns tosses one up and Healy steps out and slices the ball through point for FOUR. In the slot again and Healy advances to pummel the ball for FOUR down the ground!

Ellyse Perry into the attack. Slower delivery to beat Vaidya’s outside-edge but a fumble from Ghosh concedes a bye. A slew of singles to follow and UPW crosses 100! Six from the over.

Renuka returns. FIFTY for Alyssa Healy off 29 balls! Devika drags Renuka across the line for a single. FOUR! Healy makes room and smokes the ball over extra cover. FOUR more! Renuka overpitches and Healy moves forward and flicks the ball through mid-wicket for another boundary. Three in a row! Renuka fends short and Healy gets on top of the bounce and beats square-leg for FOUR. FOUR more! A stroke for fortune for Healy as the inside-edge trickles past Ghosh for another boundary. Nothing’s going RCB’s way.

Heather Knight into the attack. A loose delivery onto the pads and the ball brushes Healy and zips past Richa Ghosh for FOUR leg byes. Healy flicks the next ball down to long-on for one run. Warriorz is making an absolute mockey of the chase now. Vaidya steps out and lofts Knight over mid-off for another FOUR. Another FOUR! Knight offers width yet again and Vaidya crunches it through extra cover for a superb boundary.

UPW needs 84 off 84 balls. Sahana Pawar into the attack. A couple of singles first-up in the over. Sahana tosses one outside the off-stump and Healy pumps the ball through extra cover for FOUR. Sahana strays to the pads and Healy paddles the ball fine to find another FOUR.

Shreyanka returns. Devika dabs the ball to point and finds a quick single. Length from Shreyanka and Healy brings out the slog-sweep over square-leg for FOUR. Healy advances to a fuller ball and a outside-edge trickles past backward point for another FOUR, 50 up for RCB! FOUR more! Healy brings out the reverse-sweep from outside the off-stump to find another boundary.

Renuka Thakur replaces Zanzad. Renuka sends in a leg-cutter and Vaidya gets a lucky inside-edge to deny an lbw. Renuka attempts to go wide of the crease and tail one in. Healy dabs the ball to point and attempts a single but is sent back by her partner.

Erin Burns into the attack. Burns offers room and Healy slaps through backward point for FOUR.

Zanzad overpitches and Vaidya drives the ball once again past Perry for FOUR. Perry gets a hand on it from deep cover but fails to hold on. A single to follow. Short from Zanzad and Healy chips the ball past Devine at mid-on and finds another FOUR. SHOT! Healy waits on a slower delivery on length and lofts it down the ground for FOUR.

Shreyanka Patil from the opposite end. Shreyanka comes around the wicket and drops short. Healy easily slaps it through mid-wicket for FOUR. FOUR more as Healy deftly slices the ball past backward point.

Komal Zanzad takes the new ball, Vaidya on strike. A hint of shape away from the batter and Vaidya guides the ball through to deep cover for a single. Healy is off the mark too with a single. Fine lines from Komal and Vaidya guides two deliveries to the point fielder. Width on offer this time and Vaidya leans into the cover drive and beats Perry in the deep for FOUR. Vaidya clips the last ball through square for two runs.

A smiling Mandhana leads RCB out to defend 138. Alyssa Healy and Devika Vaidya open for UPW. Interesting to see the left-hander being promoted ahead of Sehrawat.

First 6 overs: 54/1

Last 13.3 overs: 84/9

Poor day out with the bat yet again for RCB.

Renuka makes room but slaps Ecclestone straight to cover. Ecclestone to Renuka, OUT! Easy for Ecclestone as she hits top of off. A wry swing from Renuka across the line but the bat was miles out away from the ball. Ecclestone to Sahana Pawar, OUT! Rushes one to the pads and that looks plumb. The umpire raises her finger and RCB reviews unsuccessfully. The ball is crashing into middle stump and RCB is all out for 138.

Renuka Singh b Ecclestone 3 (8b); Sahana Pawar lbw b Ecclestone 0 (1b)

Deepti slides one in and hits Zanzad’s pad and there’s a review. She survives with Umpire’s Call on impact. Renuka and Zanzad do not have much to do as Deepti fires deliveries into the blockhole.

Gayakwad to Zanzad, OUT! A horrendous run out for Richa Ghosh! That’s just poor awareness from Ghosh. Gayakwad sends down a straight delivery and Zanzad pushes it straight back to the bowler. Ghosh sets out on a non-existent single and it’s just easy work for Gayakwad to flick the bails at the non-striker’s. RCB in self-destruction mode. Renuka Singh in at 10.

Richa Ghosh run out (Gayakwad) 1 (1b)

Deepti to Perry, OUT! Massive wicket for Warriorz! Deepti floats the ball into the slot and Perry miscues a slog-sweep to find McGrath at deep mid-wicket. Richa Ghosh in at 8. She is off the mark with a single. Deepti overpitches and Burns pumps the ball down the ground for FOUR. Deepti to Burns, OUT! Hits the timber this time. Burns attempts a similar stroke down the ground but Deepti darts one through the blockhole to find the stumps.

Ellyse Perry c McGrath b Sharma 52 (39b 6x4 1x6); Erin Burns b Sharma 12 (9b 2x4)

Sarvani returns. Better lengths from Sarvani and the batters resort to singles. Fraction short and Burns creams the ball through mid-wicket for FOUR. Slower-ball and Burns chips the ball over the bowler for a single.

Ecclestone returns. Ecclestone to Shreyanka, OUT! Shreyanka attempts to make room for a slog but she mistimes the shot straight to cover. Erin Burns walks in at 6. A quicker delivery from Ecclestone as she skids one down to the pads to Burns.

Shreyanka Patil c Anjali Sarvani b Ecclestone 15 (10b 3x4

FIFTY for Ellyse Perry as she tucks Harris through the on-side for a single. Harry slides one in towards the pads and Shreyanka unleashes a crip slog-sweep behind backward square for FOUR. FOUR more! A superb reverse-sweep from Shreyanka stuns Harris as she beats short third for another boundary.

Rajeshwari returns. Knight plays a ball off the backfoot through the leg-side for one run Rajeshwari to Perry, OUT! Knight is run out at the striker’s end! Perry attempts for another quick single as she dabs the ball towards cover. A slight hesitation and Knight’s dive is not enough to make the crease. RCB’s woes continue as Shreyanka Patil walks in. 100 up for RCB with another risky single from Perry! Short from Rajeshwari and Shreyanka paddles the ball for FOUR through backward square.

Heather Knight run out (Anjali Sarvani/†Healy) 2 (2b)

Devika Vaidya into the attack. A tossed-up delivery down leg and Perry sweeps the ball fine for FOUR. Masterful from Perry. Vaidya darts one into the blockhole and Perry slices it late past backward point for FOUR. Perry continues the counterattack with some excellent running between the stumps to find two more runs.

Change of ends for Deepti. Loopy from over the wicket and Kanika makes some room to strike through extra cover for two runs. Kanika mistimes a slog-sweep and luckily does not find the deep square-leg fielder. Deepti to Kanika, OUT! Straight to deep mid-wicket. Slower delivery lands on the full and Kanika swipes across the line but fails to clear the fence. Straightforward catch for Sarvani and Warriorz dents RCB again. Heather Knight joins Perry.

Kanika Ahuja c Anjali Sarvani b Sharma 8 (10b)

Harris returns. The scoring rate has taken a dip as the batters negotiate the spinners on the back ones and twos. Ahuja attempts to make room and swing big but gets an inside-edge onto her pads. Just the four runs from the over.

Ecclestone to Devine, OUT! A beautiful slider from Ecclestone hits the top of off as Devine attempts to cut without much room on offer. That’s a huge momentum breaker right there for RCB. Kanika Ahuja in at 4. Ecclestone tosses one up and Ahuja sweeps across the line for a single. Perry nudges one to cover and completes a quick single. Kanika attempts to ramp Ecclestone but does not make the desired connection. A misfield at short fine-leg helps her complete two runs.

Sophie Devine b Ecclestone 36 (24b 5x4 1x6)

Deepti Sharma replaces Gayakwad. Deepti strays down leg first-up and Perry nonchalantly flicks it through backward square-leg for FOUR. FOUR more! Perry sits on one knee and sweeps another short ball through backward square. Perry drives the next ball to long-off for a single. Devine pushes one to long-on and finds one run. Perry flicks and finds deep mid-wicket, one run. Devine nudges the ball through the on-side and the batters reel in two runs. 13 from the over.

Sophie Ecclestone into the attack. Tighter lines and the batters immediately fall back on singles to keep the scoreboard moving. Five singles from the over.

Perry drives Gayakwad down to long-on for a single. IN THE AIR AND FOUR. Devine miscues a lofted drive over cover and gets the ball to beat the inner-ring on the off-side to find another boundary. A single to follow. SIX. Length from Gayakwad and Perry charges to smoke the ball down the ground once again, 50 up for RCB within the PowerPlay.

Change of ends for Sarvani. Short and wide from Sarvani and Perry rocks back to slash the ball beautifully through point for FOUR. Devine and Perry exchange a couple of singles through the off-side. In the slot from Sarvani and Perry launches the ball down the ground for another FOUR.

Rajeshwari Gayakwad into the attack. Gayakwad to Mandhana, OUT! Straight to cover. Poor shot from Mandhana as she advances for a pre-meditated slog across the line. Gayakwad rushes the ball across the line and finds the leading-edge straight to cover. The RCB skipper’s torrid run continues. Ellyse Perry walks in at 3. Perry steps out and guides a ball to mid-on for a single. A wicket and just a single from the over. Warriorz have responded sharply within the PowerPlay.

Smriti Mandhana c Anjali Sarvani b Gayakwad 4 (6b)

Grace continues. She tightens her line to Mandhana. The RCB skipper is cautious as she plays another delivery along the field through the off-side for a single. Devine attempts to charge to a length ball but gets a toe of the bat back towards the bowler. FOUR. Low full toss from Grace and Devine drags it across the line and finds the boundary as Deepti Sharma misfields at long-on

Anjali Sarvani from the opposite end. Healy stands up to the stumps. Mandhana drives another full delivery to deep cover for one run. FOUR! A delicate slice from Devine from a middle-stump line and she bisects point and backward point to find the boundary. Sarvani strays a touch too wide outside the off-stump and Devine leans in to put some wood to ball and beats cover to find another FOUR.

Mandhana takes strike as Healy brings in off-spinner Grace Harris straight away! Match-ups, match-ups! A slip in place.

Fuller ball outside the off-stump and Mandhana drives the first ball through cover for a single. FOUR! Devine opens her account with a slap through cover. Harris attempts to drift the ball in but gets no deviation whatsoever. Devine pounces on the bounce and slaps it through the field. SIX! In the slot and Devine brings out the slog-sweep for a maximum over deep mid-wicket. 13 from the first over.

Alyssa Healy leads the Warriorz out to the middle. Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine walk out for RCB.

A big night for both captains. More so for Mandhana as a leader and RCB’s opening batter. The left-hander has been circumspect around the off-spinners so far and has only managed 76 runs in three games. Can she turn it around tonight?

Tahlia to the broadcaster: The main message from coach and captain is to enjoy it, just look to make the most of it. She (Harris) took the news really well, every time I looked at the big screen she had a smile on her face and was cheering on the team. It is a good problem to have such a quality player miss out but we have a good team mentality here and everyone is just team first. I was happier when I got the first ball duck but got the win. I did enjoy some time out in the middle, the World Cup was enjoyable, I had to play a slightly different role in the Australian team but absolutely loved that. I just love batting and I enjoyed my time in the middle, hopefully some more runs in the tournament.

Games come thick and fast, our fourth game in six days and when you start like we have, on a losing streak, it is hard to turn it around. It is about keeping it simple. We have steadily improved each game and we are used to the ground, quite hard work for the bowlers and you need to take it with a pinch of salt, you have to be a bit brave. Little bit out of my comfort zone, I’m not a reliable bowler on these wickets, towards the back end of the innings as well, I’m just trying to embrace it and perform the role for the team. She is going to be an absolute gun (Shreyanka), she’s a talented cricketer and the way she executed the other day at the death was outstanding. She’s a bowl of energy and certainly has a bright future. It is really cool and nice to chat with someone (mentor Sania Mirza) from a different sport, cricket can be quite a bubble sometimes and to chat with someone who has gone through similar sort of challenges as an athlete but also in a completely different environment, just chatting to her about Wimbledon, she has been inspirational and has the wealth of experience we can chat about.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Smriti Mandhana(c), Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Heather Knight, Richa Ghosh(w), Erin Burns, Shreyanka Patil, Kanika Ahuja, Sahana Pawar, Komal Zanzad, Renuka Thakur Singh

UP Warriorz: Alyssa Healy (c & wk), Shweta Sehrawat, Kiran Navgire, Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris, Deepti Sharma, Simran Shaikh, Devika Vaidya, Sophie Ecclestone,Anjali Sarvani, Rajeshwari Gayakwad

TOSS: RCB wins the toss, opts to bat

Mandhana: Would like to bat first. Looks like a good wicket. We’ve seen in the tournament a good total on the board helps. As a bowling unit, we had a word about bowling plans with regard to the short boundaries. Not the way we wanted to start, but it’s a long tournament, want to keep our heads high.

Healy: We wanted to bat first. Hopefully we’ll restrict them to something we can chase. Pitch is not going to change too much. Shabnim Ismail misses out, Grace Harris is back in, much to everyone’s delight. You look at the other night, we lost by 40, but if someone was there with Tahlia, we could’ve got closer.

Smriti Mandhana and Alyssa Healy are in the middle for the coin flip.

Mel Jones and Julia Price assess the pitch: Second match on this pitch. Still has a bit of a green tinge, and still pretty hard. It’s going to have good bounce and carry. But it’s starting to dry out a little bit. We can see a little bit of wear which means there could be something for the spinners.

Toss, Playing XI news coming up. Stay tuned.

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Wicket-Keeper: Richa Ghosh, Alyssa Healy

Batters: Heather Knight (vc), Sophie Devine, Smriti Mandhana, Grace Harris

All-Rounders: Ellyse Perry, Deepti Sharma, Tahlia McGrath (c)

Bowlers: Shreyanka Patil, Sophie Ecclestone

Composition: RCB 6:5 UPW

Wins batting first: 4; batting second: 3

Most runs

• Tahlia McGrath - 90 runs in two matches
• Grace Harris - 59 runs in one match
• Kiran Navgire - 55 runs in two matches

Most wickets

• Sophie Ecclestone - Three wickets in three matches
• Deepti Sharma - Two wickets in two matches
• Tahlia McGrath - Two wickets in two matches

Most Runs

• Sophie Devine - 96 runs in three matches
• Ellyse Perry - 76 runs in three matches
• Smriti Mandhana - 76 runs in three matches

Most Wickets

• Heather Knight - Four wickets in three matches
• Shreyanka Patil - Two wickets in two matches

Alyssa Healy (C/WK), Shweta Sehrawat, Kiran Navgire, Tahlia McGrath, Deepti Sharma, Grace Harris, Simran Shaikh, Devika Vaidya, Sophie Ecclestone, Anjali Sarvani, Rajeshwari Gayakwad

Smriti Mandhana(c), Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Heather Knight, Richa Ghosh(w), Poonam Khemnar, Kanika Ahuja, Shreyanka Patil, Megan Schutt, Renuka Thakur Singh, Preeti Bose

20-year-old Shreyanka Patil has been the talk of the town. The youngster has started her WPL campaign on a high. Sportstar caught up with the young gun in Mumbai ahead of the tournament. WATCH:

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RCB are yet to get off the mark. Can they finally get one over the line against the Warriorz?

Shreyanka Patil (RCB) - Patil has been clinical with the bat and shown promise with the ball for RCB with a four-ball 11 against Gujarat, where she also took two wickets and a 15-ball 23 against Mumbai Indians. RCB missed a trick by sending her down the order after Poonam Khemnar but seeing how innovative she is in crunch situations, it would be tempted to push her up to aid the middle order more.

Tahlia McGrath (UPW): If her 50-ball 90 is anything to go by, McGrath may well be on her way to rediscovering form and consistency with the bat. The UP lineup has often looked thin against opponents like DC and will need McGrath’s assured temperament and skill to steady the team in the middle overs. The Aussie has looked thoroughly off colour with the ball but given pitches are beginning to veer towards a dryer variety (no clarity if that will extend to the wicket at Brabourne though), McGrath finding success with the ball maybe what this scattered UP lineup needs.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: RCB has lost all three games so far. It went down to Delhi Capitals by 60 runs, was outclassed by Mumbai Indians in its second game by nine wickets and lost its third game against Gujarat Giants, one it should have won, by 11 runs [report].

UP Warriorz: UPW has a win and a loss in the two games it has played so far. Grace Harris’ refusal to let momentum die down (report) helped UP snatch a three-wicket win from the jaws of defeat in the opener against the Giants. The side couldn’t replicate that spunk in the second fixture against DC despite Tahlia McGrath’s defiant unbeaten 90, falling to a 42-run loss instead.

RCB is placed at the bottom of the table, while UPW is third after a win and loss.

When Royal Challengers Bangalore and UP Warriorz face off in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) at the Brabourne stadium on Friday, there’s a fair bit at stake.

Both these sides find themselves at different points of the same spectrum. RCB is still licking its wounds after losses in all three games played so far. UP Warriorz had one fantastic win, against the Gujarat Giants, where Grace Harris pulled off a stunning chase but the side has looked a bit unsteady since.

The UP Warriorz setup is in an unenviable position at the moment. The overseas ingredients in this pie are not quite settled yet. Alyssa Healy and Sophie Ecclestone have proven to be undroppable, courtesy captaincy and a good record in India respectively. Tahlia McGrath, who came into the tournament after a lean patch, showed form with an unbeaten 50-ball 90 against the Delhi Capitals. Speedster Shabnim Ismail’s inclusion in the game against the Capitals did not have the desired effect. While she was economical, her fiesty pace could not unsettle the Delhi batting order. Harris ‘ inclusion could have given Warriorz a stronger chance than they gave themselves against Lanning’s team and Ismail might just pave the way for the Aussie’s return to the side, especially against a stacked RCB outfit.

“It’s a nice problem to have, dropping players like Grace. But for us, it’s about the conditions and the match-ups, and we thought we needed some pace upfront. So, Grace is very unlucky. I thought I was going to miss out, but that’s a good problem to have,” McGrath said after that the DC game. But is it, really?

An unsettled lineup is not allowing Healy to work on consistent results, with the side constantly looking for a player to step up and take the game through every time it takes to the field. Healy, herself, needs to find a way to stick around beyond the powerplay to build a platform for the Warriorz to take off from. McGrath coming good bodes well for her and the side as it steadies up a slightly inconsistent middle order for the girls in yellow and purple.

A problem area for UP is Deepti Sharma. As is the case in international fixtures off late, Deepti has been finding it hard to get going from the word go with the bat. Her role down the order requires smart batting and keeping the run rate healthy but she has struggled in that mould for much of this tournament. Against DC, she made a laborious 20-ball 12, adding to a 16-ball 11 vs the Giants.

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UP is up against an RCB lineup that has firepower till Megan Schutt at no.9. Deepti has not been the ace with the ball either. In two games, she has just two wickets but has given away 67 runs in her eight overs. For India she was a potent new ball option, something UP does not have and could use.

Royal Challengers are not without issues themselves but are the more assured batting lineup of the two teams. All eyes though are on skipper Smriti Mandhana who seems to be carrying the world’s weight on her shoulders after three discouraging losses.

“Sometimes as captain, you take it all on your shoulders. We are trying to wrap around Smriti. We have a lot of captaincy experience in this team and it’s about finding the balance between not wanting to give her too much information and having too many voices but also making sure she has an ear to listen and bounce ideas off of. This is an awesome opportunity for her to explore her captaincy. You don’t feel a sense of panic around her and that’s a great trait to have as a captain and I hope we can get a win for her,” Sophie Devine said after RCB’s 11-run loss to the Giants.

Smriti has just 80 runs in the three games and will want to go deep with Devine to put UP under pressure. RCB has the firepower in its batting to handle a chase but one talent they will want to utilise better is Shreyanka Patil. The spin-bowling all-rounder has been fearless with her shots when she takes to the field and could be just what RCB needs to keep the runs coming when in a sticky situation.

- Lavanya Lakshmi Narayanan

Royal Challengers Bangalore squad: Smriti Mandhana(c), Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Disha Kasat, Richa Ghosh(w), Heather Knight, Kanika Ahuja, Asha Shobana, Megan Schutt, Preeti Bose, Renuka Thakur Singh, Dane van Niekerk, Indrani Roy, Erin Burns, Poonam Khemnar, Sahana Pawar, Shreyanka Patil, Komal Zanzad

UP Warriorz squad: Alyssa Healy(w/c), Shweta Sehrawat, Kiran Navgire, Tahlia McGrath, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Simran Shaikh, Sophie Ecclestone, Shabnim Ismail, Anjali Sarvani, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Grace Harris, Lauren Bell, Shivali Shinde, Parshavi Chopra, Soppadhandi Yashasri

Where to watch live streaming of Royal Challengers Bangalore vs UP Warriorz today?

Live streaming of Delhi Capitals Women vs UP Warriorz will be available on Sports 18 Network/Jio.

What time will the Royal Challengers Bangalore vs UP Warriorz match begin today?

The Royal Challengers Bangalore vs UP Warriorz match will begin at 7:30 PM IST. The toss of the RCB vs UPW match will take place at 7:00 PM IST.