RCB vs UPW Highlights, WPL 2024: Royal Challengers Bangalore beats UP Warriorz by two runs, Asha picks five-for

Molineux to bowl the final over. Deepti gets an inside edge and steals a single off the first ball. Molineux puts it in the block hole, Ecclestone hits it down to long on for a single. Nine off four needed. DROPPED!! Deepti chips it towards mid off where Shreyanka fails to catch the ball but no single taken. Deepti goes for a sweep and misses the ball. Nine off two needed now! FOUR!!! Deepti steps down the pitch, converts it into a full toss and swings it towards leg side, finding the gap. Like yesterday, five to win off the final ball!!! Deepti does not get the right connection as the ball is easily stopped at deep mid-wicket. The Warriorz can only take a couple. RCB wins in front of its home fans by two runs!

Penultimate over will be bowled by Wareham. Deepti on strike. Single off the first one. Khemnar looks to go for the sweep again but it is too full and she does not get any connection whatsoever. FOUR!!! However, she does not miss on the next ball. What a cameo this has been! WICKET!!! Another twist in the tale as Wareham beats Khemnar (14 off 7) who plays down the wrong line and the ball hits the stumps. Ecclestone joins Deepti in the middle. Two dot balls from Wareham to finish the over, including an LBW appeal turned down. RCB does not have reviews which costs it as Ecclestone was plumb in front. Eleven needed off the last one. 

Shreyanka returns. FOUR!!! Poonam Khemnar sweeps hard and finds the gap in the leg side. FOUR!!! Same shot, same result. Great start to the over for the Warriorz. A single and a dot. FOUR!!! Another sweep, this time from Deepti Sharma. Single off the final ball. Fourteen from it. Warriorz need 16 from 12. 

Asha is back for her final over. WICKET!!! Sehrawat hits one towards Mandhana who dives to take a sharp catch at extra cover. Sehrawat goes for a 25-ball 31 and Asha has her third scalp. Kiran Navgire, the new batter, goes for a reverse sweep, only to be trapped in front. She decides to use the DRS and the decision has to be reversed as the hawk-eye shows the ball to be missing the leg stump. WICKET!!! Asha gets Harris!!! The batter goes for the sweep but misses the ball completely. Harris departs for 38 and that could be the game for RCB. WICKET!!! Navgire (one off three) steps down the pitch, the ball keeps low and Richa does brilliant job to collect the ball and whip off the bails. Five-wicket haul (five for 22) for Asha! First of this season.

Final five overs. Shreyanka is back. FIVE WIDES!!! Not the ideal start as she sprays one down the leg side and despite the dive, Richa Ghosh can’t stop the ball. Sensible batting from Sehrawat and Harris as they keep the scoreboard ticking with singles off the next three balls. Ten from the over. 

Strategic time out. RCB needs to think of something to turn things around.

Molineux returns. Seven off the first four without a boundary. A single off the penultimate ball. SIX!!! Harris gets the big shot over deep mid-wicket to finish the over in style.

FOUR!!! Harris slaps a short one towards the leg side for a boundary. If Warriorz have to win this, Harris has got to be the batter to finish the job. FOUR!!! Short and wide, Sehrawat makes room and hits it over cover. SIX!!!! Brilliant shot from Sehrawat who holds her shape for a short one from Perry and swings it way into the stands in the leg side. Sixteen from it. Just what the Warriorz need. 

Mandhana introduces right-arm pace of Sophie Devine from the other end. Devine begins with a wide down the leg side. A double and a single for Sehrawat and Harris is on strike now. FOUR!!! Superb short from Harris to beat the fielder at cover point. Ten runs from that over. 

Finally, Ellyse Perry into the attack. Harris struck on the back pad but the umpire does not give her out LBW. Perry is convinced and asks Mandhana to use the review. Pitched outside off, impact in line but the ball is projected to go over the leg stump. RCB has wasted its reviews for the night. Just two from it. Pressure increases for Warriorz. 

Asha to bowl her third over. SIX!!!! This one is huge from Harris!!! She holds her shape and sends the ball way over wide long on. FOUR!!! Lovely use of the wrists from Sehrawat to hit the ball past short fine leg. Eleven from the over.

Wareham back for her second over. FOUR!! Harris scoops one behind for a boundary. FOUR!! Another one for Harris, this time a slightly short one from Wareham and her compatriot hits it between cover point and backward point. Thirteen from it. Warriorz need more overs like this.

Sobhana Asha back for another over. WICKET!!! Vrinda Dinesh’s painful knock of 28-ball 18 ends as she steps down the pitch but fails to make the connection. Easy stumping for Richa Ghosh. Grace Harris comes in. WICKET!!! Big one for Asha. McGrath goes down on one knee and tries to hit a massive one towards the leg side but the ball goes through her legs to hit the stumps. McGrath goes for 22. Shweta Sehrawat joins Grace Harris in the middle. Just two singles plus two wickets from it.

Another leg spinner - Georgia Wareham - to bowl. Bowls a couple of wides before conceding three singles.

Sobhana Asha, the leg-spinner, is into the attack. Slog sweep from Vrinda, not timed well but lands safely as she picks up a single on the fourth ball. SIX!!! McGrath steps down the pitch and hits the ball over long on for a maximum. Seven from it.

Strategic time out.

Shreyanka to bowl the final over of the powerplay. FOUR!!! Not perfectly timed but still, good enough from McGrath to go past mid off. DROPPED!!!! Short ball from Shreyanka Patil, McGrath hits it hard but straight towards Simran Bahadur at cover point who fails to grab it. FOUR!!! One on the pads, McGrath swings hard and sends it over short fine leg for a boundary.

Renuka with a third over inside the powerplay. FOUR!!! Vrinda scoops one behind for a much needed boundary. Five from it.

Molineux from the other end. Just three from this one too. 

Renuka continues. Three off the first three balls. Renuka then strikes Vrinda on the pads in consecutive deliveries. RCB uses the DRS both times - retains it in the first instance as umpire’s call saves Vrinda but the second time, the massive inswinging ball is projected to go down the leg side. RCB loses a review. Nevertheless, a tidy over from the pacer.

Spin from the other end - Sophie Molineux. FOUR!!! The left-arm spinner puts one straight in the arc of her national capital and Healy hits it behind square. WICKET!!! Lovely comeback from Molineux as this one angles in but then spins just enough to beat Healy’s defence and hits the top of off stump. Healy goes for five. Tahlia McGrath is the new batter and she starts by running three after hitting one past short fine leg. FOUR!!!! Vrinda goes over the bowler’s head. Expensive over but a big wicket for RCB too.

WIDE!!! Renuka sprays one down the leg side. A nudge towards the off side and first runs off the bat for Healy. Debutant Vrinda on strike. FOUR!!! Lucky start as Vrinda gets an inside edge which misses the stumps as well as the wicketkeeper. Six from it.

Mumbai Indians managed to chase 172 yesterday against Delhi Capitals. For UP Warriorz, the number is 158. Alyssa Healy and debutant Vrinda Dinesh out in the middle. Renuka Singh Thakur to bowl the first over for RCB.

Warriorz used 14 overs from spinners with the combined figures: 14-0-95-5. Here’s what their coach Jon Lewis said about the strategy: 

The dominant force in women’s cricket is spin bowling. We .may have overindexed in this department, but if we can get it right, it will hold us in good stead. In Deepti and Sophie, we have two bowlers who can bowl in any period of the game and get wickets. 

For coaches around the world, pace bowling is the biggest area of development but at the moment, spin bowling is more effective across the board.

Final over of the innings. Ecclestone to bowl. Shreyanka on strike. Plays it down to long on for a single. FOUR!!! Molineux goes on the backfoot, makes room and hits it past extra cover. Ecclestone comes back strongly and concedes only a single off the next three balls. SIX!!!! Shreyanka finishes the innings in style as she walks down the pitch, makes it a low full toss and hits it over deep mid-wicket. 

Deepti to bowl the penultimate over. Molineux on strike. Picks up a single off the second ball. Ghosh tries to go for the big one in the leg side but the connection is good enough only to fetch a single. WICKET!!! Ghosh goes down on one knee and tries to sweep it over Healy’s head but ends up sending the ball onto the stumps. Ghosh goes after scoring 62. Great over by Deepti as she has conceded just three so far. Last ball. Another single to finish it.

McGrath to bowl her final over. FIFTY!! Ghosh completes her half-century as she judges the slower one perfectly and hits it over the bowler’s head. FOUR!!! Fierce cut from Ghosh and it’s another boundary. FOUR!!! Ghosh completes the hat-trick, this time hitting the ball past short third. Slower one yet again, Ghosh goes over mid-off but it does not have enough power to reach the boundary and she settles for two.

Final four overs. Rajeshwari to complete her quota. Can she find a breakthrough? Yes, she can! WICKET!!! Rajeshwari beats Meghana with the flight and bounce and Healy does the rest behind the stumps. Meghana departs after scoring 53. WICKET!!! Georgia Wareham is the new batter who plays two dot balls before hitting one straight into the hands of Harris at point. Sophie Molineux comes in. Short and wide and Molineux picks up a single on the final ball. Just one from it.

McGrath to bowl her third over. FOUR!!!! Short ball, Ghosh gets a thick outside edge which goes to the boundary. FOUR!!! Poor ball, down the leg side, Ghosh gets some bat on it and that’s enough. Strategic time out now.

Deepti to bowl the 15th over. Eight from it including a four for Ghosh.

Saima returns. FIFTY!!! S Meghana completes her half-century from 40 balls with a single in the off side. FOUR!!! Gorgeous cut from Ghosh and RCB is definitely finding another gear now. FOUR!!! In the arc for Ghosh and she times it well enough to go over mid off for a boundary. FOUR!!! On the pads from Saima and Ghosh finds the gap between long on and deep mid-wicket. FOUR!!!! And Richa finished the over with another boundary. Seventeen runs from that.

Rajeshwari continues. SIX!!! Flighted delivery, Meghana hits it over cover for a maximum. Moves to 49 with a single. FOUR!!!! Ghosh hits it over the fielders inside the circle on the off side. 

Healy brings back Ecclestone, possibly looking to break this partnership before it can develop into something dangerous. The England spinner begins with three dot balls. FOUR!!! The fourth one is a full toss and on the pads and this time, Meghana does not miss as she enters the 40s now. Meghana moves to 42 with a single. Ghosh picks up a single off the final ball of the over.

Gayakwad back for her second over. FOUR!!! A late cut from Meghana and the fielder at short third has no chance of stopping it from reaching the fence. Eight from it.

FOUR!!! Debutant Saima Thakor into the attack with her right arm pace. Richa Ghosh finds a boundary after a while as she cuts one hard and despite the fielder at point getting a hand on it, the ball reaches the boundary. Six off the over.

Another left-arm spinner introduced by Healy - the experienced Rajeshwari Gayakwad. Starts well. Just three singles from it and now, it is time for the strategic time out.

Ecclestone returns for her second over. Three singles in the first four balls. WICKET!!! Big one for Ecclestone as Perry hits one straight into the hands of Saima Thakor at cover. The Australian all-rounder could only score eight off seven. Richa Ghosh comes in and gets off the mark with a single.

Deepti Sharma to bowl. FOUR!!!! Grace Harris puts in a valiant effort but does not complete the catch while diving at long on and Meghana survives. FOUR!!!! Short ball from Deepti and Perry pulls it for a boundary. Eleven from that over. 

Last over of the powerplay and McGrath will do the job. WICKET!!! Mandhana mistimes a pull shot and Vrinda Dinesh takes a good catch at short fine leg. Mandhana goes for 13. Ellyse Perry joins Meghana. Four from the over. 

DROPPED!!! Short ball from Harris, Mandhana pulls it and Rajeshwari puts down a simple catch at backward square leg. FOUR!!! Three boundaries in a row for Meghana with the third one slipping through the fingers of a diving deep mid-wicket. Thirteen from that over.

Sophie Ecclestone, the left-arm spinner, into the attack. Last ball of the over, Meghana goes for a big hit, gets the outside edge, Vrinda Dinesh chases the ball and stops it just in time to save two runs. 

WICKET!!!! Devine is plumb in front and has no reason to waste a review here. Harris gets the first breakthrough as Devine departs for five-ball one. WIDE! S Meghana is the new batter in and Harris welcomes her with a wide down the leg side. Meghana survives a stumping appeal on the very next ball. FOUR! Flighted delivery, Meghana hits it over cover for a boundary. Full toss from Harris and Meghana picks up a single on the final ball of the over.

Healy starts with right-arm pace of Tahlia McGrath from the other end. SIX! Mandhana steps down the pitch and sends the ball over the bowler’s head for a maximum. FOUR! McGrath errs in line and length and Mandhana pulls it past the fielder at short fine leg for four.

Tidy first over from off-spinner Harris. Only three singles.

Here we go. Both teams are ready to step on the field. For RCB, the home team, skipper Mandhana and Devine will open the innings. Grace Harris has the ball in her hand.

RCB

Mandhana (c), Devine, S Meghana, Perry, Ghosh, Molineux, Wareham, Shreyanka, Simran, Sobhana, Renuka

UPW

Healy (c), Ecclestone, McGrath, Deepti, Rajeshwari, Navgire, Vrinda, Poonam, Sehrawat, Harris, Thakor

Alyssa Healy wins the toss and UP Warriorz has elected to bowl first.

In the inaugural season last year, the Warriorz won the first match by 10 wickets while RCB clinched the second fixture by five wickets.

Following a disappointing finish, second from the bottom, last season, Royal Challengers Bangalore, led by Smriti Mandhana, will be eager to kick off the Women’s Premier League 2024 positively as it takes on UP Warriorz at its home ground.

Read the full match preview by Mayank here.

- Five teams will face off against each other in the nearly month-long tournament

- Mumbai Indians is the defending champion

- Captains of the teams: 

Mumbai Indians: Harmanpreet Kaur

Delhi Capitals: Meg Lanning

UP Warriorz: Alyssa Healy

Gujarat Giants: Beth Mooney

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Smriti Mandhana

You can follow the live telecast of the Women’s Premier League on Sports18 and stream it on Jio Cinema.