Back to the top, the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) go. After losing their last two encounters, Smriti Mandhana and co. have stamped their authority with a comprehensive win in the UPW vs RCB match. Batting first, Ellyse Perry and skipper Mandhana proved too good to be true, while a DRS controversy and shaky batting performance from UP Warriorz barring Alyssa Healy’s fighting fifty handed them their third win of the WPL 2024 season.
Another DRS controversy
In what has been becoming a trend, the UPW vs RCB match was also rocked by a DRS controversy. Unlike Joe Root’s dismissal a couple of weeks ago, this one was a clear error of the technology. Bowling the seventh over of the match, Georgia Wareham bowled a regular full-length leg spinner, which Chamari Athapaththu failed to get her bat on, and it struck her on the pads.
Royals went up in unison, but the appeal was struck down. Smriti Mandhana went upstairs, and it looked like the ball was spinning down leg. However, shockingly, the ball tracking showed the ball to be spinning in, like a googly, and showed three reds. The overturned decision shocked the umpire, Athapaththu, and skipper Healy, but there wasn’t anything Warriorz could do.
The moment turned out to be the changing moment of the chase. Still scoring over 10 overs per over, the Warriorz were on track to chase down 199. However, after the dismissal, Alyssa Healy and Co. lost their way. They lost three more wickets in the next six overs and were five down, with 86 still needed in 7.3 overs.
The Smriti Mandhana and Ellyse Perry show
The RCB skipper and their ace all-rounder produced magical performances to take their side to the highest total of the WPL 2024 season. Opening the batting, Mandhana constructed a 51-run stand with Sabbhineni Meghana and a 95-run partnership with Elysse Perry.
She notched up a 50-ball 80, which included 13 boundaries, and became the orange cap holder on the way. After she departed, Perry took the onus. The Australian all-rounder smoked 8 boundaries, which included a smashing sixer off Deepti Sharma, and ended up scoring 58 off 37. Richa Ghosh also played a handy cameo, scoring 21 off 10 balls, which helped the Royals reach 198.
