Recent Match Report – RCB Women vs UPW Women 2nd Match 2023/24

Royal Challengers Bangalore 157 for 6 (Ghosh 62, Meghana 53, Gayakwad 2-24) beat UP Warriorz 155 for 7 (Harris 38, Sehrawat 31, Asha 5-22) by two runs

Five needed from one ball – that was the requirement on the opening night of WPL 2024, and it was the same on the second. While Delhi Capitals could not defend that, Royal Challengers Bangalore did, and got their campaign off to a winning start in the backdrop of a ballistic home crowd at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Once again, it was an unheralded Indian player who shone the brightest – Asha Sobhana’s five-wicket haul derailed UP Warriorz’s chase of 158 to help RCB defend a total for the first time. They had never managed to do so in four attempts in the first season.

At one point, Grace Harris, who scored 38 off 23 balls, threatened to take Warriorz home but Asha’s spell had them falling short by two runs.

Asha, the hope

Her Twitter handle is ashathehopejoy; Asha translates to hope. She was a figure of hope and excitement in Bengaluru, changing the game twice. After Sophie Molineux dismissed Alyssa Healy with a peach, Vrinda Dinesh and Tahlia McGrath added 38 off 41 balls. When the pair tried to break free, Asha had Vrinda stumped for 18 off 28. A couple of balls later, she castled McGrath who tried to sweep a ball that was too full.

Harris and Shweta Sehrawat put the chase back on track by adding 77 in 46 balls. With 32 required from four overs, Smriti Mandhana turned to Asha again. She delivered a triple-wicket over, dismissing Sehrawat, Harris and Kiran Navgire to complete her five-for and set the jitters in the opposition camp.

The Harris-Sehrawat show

Sehrawat is coming on the back of a successful domestic season where she was Delhi’s leading run-getter in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy while striking at 122.45. Warriorz were 49 for 3 in the ninth over when she joined Harris in the middle. While Sehrawat took her time on a used pitch, Harris kept the scoreboard ticking.

Harris hit legspinner Georgia Wareham for back-to-back fours in the tenth over before tonking Asha for a maximum in the next. She managed to find the boundary regularly before Sehrawat attacked Ellyse Perry. A couple of balls after slapping one through cover-point, she deposited a back-of-a-length ball over deep midwicket. Harris then sent Molineux into the deep midwicket stands to end the 15th over. All that sequence meant Warriorz scored 30 in two overs.

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