It turned out be a no-contest as Royal Challengers Bengaluru openers Grace Harris and Smriti Mandhana blew the Uttar Pradesh Warriorzs attack to smithereens on way to a thumping nine-wicket victory at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Monday night.
After some gripping and tantalizing contests in the previous four games of the tournament, Game 5 turned out to be damp squib in terms of frills and thrills. There were no twists and turns in the tale as Bengaluru scripted a straightforward story which ended up in a huge victory for them and propelled them to the top of the table.
Chasing a modest 144 for victory, Grace and Smriti showed no mercy or leniency to the Warriorz bowlers. Grace, in particular, used her willow as a scythe and cut her way through the opposition. Grace raced away to her half-century in 22 balls with seven fours and three sixes as the rival bowlers didn’t know how to contain the Australian batter.
Benguluru reached 100 in 48 balls as Grace and Smriti made merry. Grace got 62 of the 100 and Smriti contributed 34.
Grace was dropped by Harleen Deol when she was on 84 but it did not make much of a difference as Grace perished two balls later, this time snapped up by Meg Lanning off Shikha Pandey. Grace finished with a 40-ball 85 with 10 fours and five sixes.
Grace’s knock one of the best and cleanest
Grace demonstrated one of the best and cleanest displays of ball-striking the WPL has seen all these years. The game finished with four byes and that was Warriorz tale of woe on this day. Smriti remained unbeaten on 47 off 32 balls with nine fours.
Warriorz’ skipper Meg Lanning said it was not what she expected to happen on this day. “Of course not. Would have loved to start with a win or two. Outplayed by RCB tonight. Plenty to work on for us but the good thing is the games come thick and fast, so we will move on quick. It can be a good thing in a lot of ways. Some things we need to tidy up. Never got going. Too many dot balls, myself included. Need to get better there. When they (RCB) got in front of the game, they put it away,” she said.
On Shikha Pandey bowling cross seam, Lanning said: “Guess (she was) trying to get something out of the wicket. She is one of the best bowlers in this competition and she does mix it up. Did not come off tonight but we will pick ourselves and go again.”
On Grace’s brutal attack on her team, she said: “It is pretty difficult when she gets going. She has brute force, but she played some good cricket shots. She got going and we could not stop her.”
Earlier, put into bat, UP Warriorz were all at sea against the Bengaluru attack. They lost half of their side with just 50 on the board. The first to go was Harleen Deol (11) and skipper Meg Lanning (14) didn’t last long too. Phoebe Litchfield (20) struck a few heavy blows and looked like tearing apart the rival attack, but Shreyanka Patil removed her quickly. Kiran Navgire (5) and Shweta Sehrawat (0) didn’t trouble much.
It was left to Deepti Sharma and Deandra Dottin to salvage some pride and give themselves a chance to defend later on. They added 93 for the unbroken sixth wicket. Deepti remained unbeaten on 45 (35 balls, 5×4, 1×6) and Dottin made 40 (37 balls, 3x, 1×6).
Lauren Bell had a good spell of fast bowling earlier in the day. She just conceded 16 runs in her four overs and took a wicket. On her spell she said: “It has been good. Feel in good rhythm and it is coming out nicely. I want to start the game and set the tone. Not something I have quite nailed for England. Something I have practiced back home (the out-swinger).”
On working with bowling coach Anya Shrubsole, she said: “Have worked with her for a few years now. She is super calm and brings clarity. Cricket is one of those games you cannot predict. If it is swinging, I can have an impact in the powerplay.”
Brief scores: Uttar Pradesh Warriorz 143/5 in 20 overs (Deepthi Sharma 45 no, Deandra Dottin 40 no, Phoebe Litchfield 20; Nadine de Klerk 2/28, Shreyanka Patil 2/50) lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru 145/1 in 12.1 overs (Grace Harris 85, Smriti Mandhana 47 no).
