Royal Challengers Bangalore Vs UP Warriorz, WPL 2024: Sobhana Asha's Fifer Helps RCB Beat UPW By 2 Runs - As It Happened

After a thrill-a-minute season-opener between last year's finalists, the Women's Premier League 2024 is now ready for another clash of two titans. The Smriti Mandhana-led Royal Challengers Bangalore are about to meet Alyssa Healy's UP Warriorz in the second match of this edition. Both teams are replete with star players who can turn the match on its head at any stage.

While Bangalore boast of proven performers like Ellyse Perry, Sophie Devine and Renuka Thakur in addition to Mandhana, the UP Warriorz have Tahlia McGrath, Deepti Sharma and Sophie Ecclestone in their midst. It remains to be seen who owns the game and helps kick-start their team's campaign on a bright note. Stay tuned for the live scores and updates of all the action from the RCB Women vs UPW Women, WPL 2024 match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. (Streaming | More Cricket News)

Royal Challengers Bangalore Women Squad: Smriti Mandhana(c), Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Sabbhineni Meghana, Richa Ghosh(w), Shreyanka Patil, Sobhana Asha, Simran Bahadur, Georgia Wareham, Kate Cross, Renuka Thakur Singh, Disha Kasat, Nadine de Klerk, Ekta Bisht, Sophie Molineux, Indrani Roy, Shubha Satheesh, Shraddha Pokharkar

UP Warriorz Squad: Alyssa Healy(w/c), Shweta Sehrawat, Kiran Navgire, Vrinda Dinesh, Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris, Deepti Sharma, Sophie Ecclestone, Anjali Sarvani, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Parshavi Chopra, Gouher Sultana, Chamari Athapaththu, Saima Thakor, Laxmi Yadav, Danielle Wyatt, Soppadhandi Yashasri, Poonam Khemnar

UP Warriorz have won the toss and have opted to field

Teams:

Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Smriti Mandhana(c), Sophie Devine, Sabbhineni Meghana, Ellyse Perry, Richa Ghosh(w), Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham, Shreyanka Patil, Simran Bahadur, Sobhana Asha, Renuka Thakur Singh

UP Warriorz (Playing XI): Alyssa Healy(w/c), Sophie Ecclestone, Tahlia McGrath, Deepti Sharma, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Kiran Navgire, Vrinda Dinesh, Poonam Khemnar, Shweta Sehrawat, Grace Harris, Saima Thakor

Alyssa Healy | UP Warriorz Captain: We will be bowling first. It's amazing to play on this kind of ground. We need to perform the job with the ball. Poonam and Athapatthu will both play important roles for us. I am excited to play here.

Smriti Mandhana | RCB Captain: We already knew that. There will be a lot of noise and support. This is how the RCB fan base is. I believe it's the same wicket as last night. 175 would be a reasonable score if we played to our strengths. We did not have a terrific campaign last year. To win the competition, all players must rise to the occasion.

The pitch looks new and fresh. There is an even covering of grass on the strip. Dew might play a factor here, hence batting second should be a no-brainer.

Smriti Mandhana along with Sophie Devine opened the batting for RCB whereas Grace Harris opened the bowling attack for UP Warriorz. She gave just three runs including a wide from her first over.

RCB - 3/0 (1)

Grace Harris continued her attack and Devine tried to play a sweep shot, she was beaten and it looked plumb to the umpire. She went back early as RCB lost their first wicket. S Meghana is the new batter at the crease.

RCB - 19/1 (3)

Short ball on leg, Mandhana pulls and gets a top edge towards short fine leg, where the fielder makes an excellent running grab. Both openers are back to the pavilion within the powerplay. Ellyse Perry is the new batter.

RCB - 40/2 (6)

It was a tossed-up delivery, Perry tried to smash it but the ball went to the fielder at covers. Saima Thakor took a brilliant catch to dismiss the batter. RCB are three down.

RCB - 58/3 (9)

Sabbhineni Meghana completed her fifty with a single on the first delivery of the 14th over. Richa Ghosh also slammed three fours after she reached her milestone in Saima Thakor's over.

RCB - 107/3 (14)

Rajeshwari Gayakwad came to bowl the 17th over after the strategic timeout and got the wicket of set batter Meghana after Healy stumped her. Georgia Wareham also holed out to Grace Harris on the fourth delivery. Sophie Molineux has joined Richa at the crease.

RCB - 126/5 (17)

RCB's Richa Ghosh completed her fifty and smashed three fours before Deepti Sharma bowled her. Shreyanka Patil smashed a six on the last delivery of the final over to post 157 on the board.

RCB - 157/6 (20)

Brief Score: RCB - 157/6 (20)

Richa Ghosh - 62 (37), Sabbhineni Meghana - 53 (44) | Rajeshwari Gayakwad: (4-0-24-2)

Captain Alyssa Healy along with Vrinda Dinesh opened the batting for UP Warriorz and Renuka Singh started with the ball. Dinesh hit a boundary on the first ball she faced in the WPL career. Six runs from the first over.

UPW - 6/0 (1)

Healy has missed a straight delivery that is faster and on a length around the middle and off stumps. Healy unfathomably defends inside the line and gropes for the ball which misses and hits the middle and off stumps.

UPW - 17/1 (2)

Sobhana Asha is excited. She does the Hasaranga shoulder tap celebration. Slower and with the flung-up leg break outside off, Vrinda Dinesh comes down the track to drive, gets beaten, and Richa Ghosh takes over.

UPW - 50/3 (9)

Ellyse Perry came to bowl the 12th over of the innings and conceded just two runs from it. UP Warriorz still need 82 runs in 48 balls.

UPW - 76/3 (12)

Sobhana Asha came to bowl after the strategic timeout and removed the set batter Shweta Sehrawat on the first delivery. She then bowled Grace Harris on the fourth delivery and stumped out Kiran Navgire on the final delivery to complete her fifer.

UPW - 128/6 (17)

Georgia Wareham conceded just five runs in the 19th over of the innings when 16 runs were needed in 12 deliveries. Now, UP Warriorz need 11 runs in the final over.

UPW - 147/7 (19)

Sophie Molineux held her nerves and defended 11 runs in the final over. After conceding two singles on the first two deliveries, she bowled the next two dot deliveries. Deepti Sharma hit the fifth ball for a four but was unable to connect the last ball which was a low full toss. Deepti ran for two runs hence, RCB registered their first home win.

UPW - 155/7 (20)

We got back into the hunt but let ourselves down in the end. Full credit goes to Molineux and Wareham for their bowling. You learn a lot because each squad has a different level of expertise. When you win, you gloss over it a little. There were many positives to take from the game, despite the fact that we were down for the majority of it. That is the nature of T20 cricket: you win some games and lose others. We will travel again in two days. It's extremely great, and I've seen how hard they've worked over the previous ten days.

Pretty good game. Even the last match was really tight. The identical equation showed up on the board. I was praying to all the gods while at cover, and the bowlers did an excellent job today. I had a lot of trust in Sophie, and the way she bowled the last over was fantastic, and Asha taking 5 wickets was game-changing. Whenever I saw her, I saw the expression in her eyes that said, "Give me the ball." Although this is only her second season, she is seasoned, and it is encouraging to watch her do well. At the second stoppage, we expected to go over 165, which I felt was a nice number.

Lots of hardship and hard labour. I'm not thinking about my five wickets; we won our first game on home ground. I'm delighted to have helped to the victory, especially at Chinnaswamy. I anticipated the circumstance and visualised it. I completed a lot of homework. I saw Grace moving against the turn and figured if I pulled the length back and across, I may get a top edge or bowled. I was prepared to get pummelled, but I was confident I'd get them.

RCB won the match by 2 runs against UP Warriorz in their first home match at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. We will be back tomorrow. Until then, it's a goodbye from our side. Take care, Goodnight.