WPL: Smriti Mandhana’s RCB to aim for consolidation as UPW fret over Deepti Sharma’s form
RCB, led by 2024 champion Smriti Mandhana, stunned Harmanpreet Kaur with a surprising three-wicket win against MI on Friday; South African brave Nadine de Klerk basked in the glory of a good all-round display, sealing the victory with the winning run off the last ball of the innings.
While Mumbai Indians bounced back quickly with an assertive win over Delhi Capitals in their second match on Saturday, the memory of losing the last ball when pain and victory were all but assured is likely to stay with them for the rest of the season.
But for Mandhana and RCB, it was a moment to rejoice and they hope that de Klerk, who scored 63 and took four wickets, can put up a similar performance against UP Warriorz.
Mandhana would also want his top-order batsmen, including himself, to be among the runs; considering that in the previous match de Klerk was the only player to stand out and the rest performed below average.
The top five batsmen (Grace Harris, Mandhana, Dayalan Hemalatha, Richa Ghosh and Radha Yadav) will need to step up, while in the bowling department, much more will be expected from the likes of Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil and Radha, who conceded the most runs against MI.
UP Warriorz also had their share of disappointments; none was more dazzling than all-rounder Deepti Sharma, who was the most expensive purchase from India at Rs 3.2 crore in the WPL auction. He endured a memorable outing against the Gujarat Giants in Saturday’s one-day match, with his team trailing by 10 runs, the star cricketer finishing a daunting chase of 207 without a wicket and scoring just one run.
UP Warriorz’s new skipper Meg Lanning wants her all-rounder to find her rhythm quickly and will also expect healthy contributions from opener Kiran Navgire and Harleen Deol at the top, although Aussie teenager Phoebe Litchfield’s stunning 78 in a losing cause would have given her some confidence.
Teams (Sender):
Bengaluru Royal Competitors: Smriti Mandhana (c), Lauren Bell, Nadine de Klerk, Richa Ghosh (wk), Grace Harris, Dayalan Hemalatha, Gautami Naik, Shreyanka Patil, Kumar Prathyoosha, Prema Rawat, Arundhati Reddy, Sayali Satghare, Linsey Smith, Pooja Vastrakar, Georgia Voll, Radha Yadav.
UP Warriorz: Meg Lanning (c), Harleen Deol, Deandra Dottin, Sophie Ecclestone, Kranti Gaud, Shipra Giri, Charli Knott, Phoebe Litchfield, Suman Meena, Kiran Navgire, Shikha Pandey, Pratika Rawal, Shweta Sehrawat, Deepti Sharma, Simran Shaikh, Asha Sobhana, Gongadi Trisha, Chloe Tryon.
The match starts at 19:30 IST.
