Mandhana Perry fifties carry RCB to 198 3 against UPW

    Bengaluru, Mar 4 (PTI) Engaging fifties by skipper Smriti Mandhana and star all-rounder Elysse Perry took Royal Challengers Bangalore to a formidable 198 for three against UP Warriorz in their Women’s Premier League match here on Monday.
    Looking to get out of a two-match losing streak, RCB promoted S Meghana into opening slot in place of Sophie Devine and the move paid off.
    Meghana and Mandhana (80, 50b, 10x4, 3x6) added 51 runs in 5.3 overs to give the Royal Challengers a strong platform and the hosts ended the Power Play at 57 for 1, their best in WPL 2.
    Mandhana in the company of Perry (58, 37b, 4x4, 4x6) added 95 runs off just 64 balls for the second wicket to optimise that start as the UP bowlers wilted under constant heat.
    The left-hander's timing was stunning as she played shots all around the park and treated spinners with disdain. It will give her a lot of confidence as she often tends to get stuck against the tweakers.
    Mandhana, who was dropped on 28, was particularly severe on off-spinner Chamari Athapathuthu and left-arm pacer Anjali Sarvani, who she carted for a slew of fours and sixes.
    But slog-sweep of offie Deepti Sharma ended in the hands of Poonam Khemnar at deep mid-wicket to silence the roaring RCB fans.
    However, Perry, who smashed left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad for two successive sixes, and Richa Ghosh added 42 runs off 18 balls for the third wicket as RCB motored on to a strong total.

    Vrinda ruled out
    ============
    Warriorz’s Vrinda Dinesh is ruled out of the remainder of the WPL after suffering a shoulder injury during the match against Mumbai Indians here on February 28.
    The UP side has signed wicket-keeper batter Uma Chetry as a replacement at her base price of Rs 10 lakhs.
    Uma recently played for India A against England A and was also a part of the India A Emerging squad that won the ACC Emerging Women’s Asia Cup 2023.
    RCB also made a change to the side, benching injured Shreyanka Patil for veteran Ekta Bisht.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)