Kanika and Richa give RCB their first win; UP's third defeat.

▫️Rayat Samachar▫️

Mumbai (Gurudatta Wakdekar) 16.3.2023 

Royal Challengers Bangalore have finally got their first win in the Women's Premier League. They defeated UP Warriors by five wickets in the 13th match of the tournament on Thursday (March 15). Smriti Mandhana's team, adorned with star players, had to face defeat in the last five matches. On the other hand, it is UP's third loss in five matches. They have two wins so far.

What veterans Sophie Devine, Smriti Mandhana, Heather Knight, Elise Parry, Megan Schutt and Renuka Singh Thakur could not manage, youngsters Kanika Ahuja and Richa Ghosh have done wonderfully. 20-year-old Kanika scored 46 and 19-year-old Richa scored 31 not out. RCB have opened their account on the strength of youth but will need to win the remaining two matches to stay in the competition. Apart from this, the results of other teams will also have to be depended on.

RCB captain Smriti Mandhana won the toss and decided to bowl first. UP Warriors were bowled out for 135 runs in 19.3 overs. RCB won the match by scoring 136 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in 18 overs. This is their first win in this competition.

Kanika scored 46 off 30 balls. At the same time, Richa remained unbeaten after scoring 31 runs in 32 balls. Heather Knight contributed 24 runs. Sophie Devine scored 14 and Elise Parry scored 10. Skipper Smriti Mandhana failed once again. She returned to the tent without opening the account. Shreyanka Patil scored five runs not out. Deepti Sharma took two wickets for UP Warriors. Sophie Ecclestone, Devika Vaidya and Grace Harris had one success each.

Earlier, Grace Harris top-scored for UP with 46 runs. Deepti Sharma and Kiran Navgire scored 22 runs each. Sophie Ecclestone contributed 12 runs. Australia's star player Ellis Parry took the most three wickets for RCB in this match. Sophie Devine and Asha Shobana took two wickets each while Megan Schutt and Shreyanka Patil took one wicket each.

Kanika Ahuja was felicitated with the man of the match award.

Tomorrow Delhi vs Gujarat match will be played at Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium. Delhi will try its best to retain the second position in the table while Gujarat will try to get back on the winning streak.