Kanika Ahuja scored a fine unbeaten 46 as Royal Challengers Bangalore Women registered their first win of the tournament by beating the UP Warriorz Women by 5 wickets at the DY Patil Stadium on Wednesday.
After being asked to bat first by RCB skipper, Sophie Devine struck two massive blows in the first over- first by trapping Devika Vaidya leg before wicket for a golden duck and then dismissing Alyssa Healy (1) caught at midwicket by Sobhana Asha.
Warriorz slipped even further as Tahlia McGrath was caught behind the stumps off Megan Schutt for 2. Kiran Navgire (22) looked good for a brief while before slogging a full delivery from Sobhana Asha straight up in the air to Ghosh.
Asha claimed her second wicket when Simran Shaikh (2) was caught at midwicket by Kanika Ahuja.
Grace Harris got a reprieve when Ghosh missed a easy stumping off Sobhana in the 11th over. The Australian all rounder capitalized on the opportunity by scoring a 32 ball-46. His knock comprised off 5 fours and 2 sixes.
Harris along with Deepti Sharma brought the innings back on track with a valuable 69 run stand for the sixth wicket before both the well set batters were dismissed by Perry in the 16th over.
The Warriorz lower order failed to provide a final flourish and were bowled out for 135 in 19.3 overs.
Chasing 136, Sophie Devine got RCB off to a quickfire start by smashing Grace Harris for 2 fours and a six in the first over. However Devine (14) perished in the same over, caught in the deep by McGrath while attempting a slog-sweep.
Smriti Mandhana’s horror run with the bat continued, as she was bowled by Deepti Sharma for a duck. Ellyse Perry along with Heather Knight added 29 runs for the third wicket before the former was dismissed by Devika Vaidya for 10.
Deepti Sharma then dented RCB’s hopes by claiming the dangerous Heather Knight for 24. However the pair of Kanika and Richa Ghosh brought the innings back on track with a valuable 60 runs for the fifth wicket before the former was bowled by Sophie Ecclestone while trying to sweep for a breezy 30 ball-46.
Ghosh then hit a six and a four off Deepti, as RCB reached the target of 136 with two overs to spare.
Royal Challengers Bangalore 136 for 5 (Ahuja 46, Ghosh 31*) beat UP Warriorz 135 all out (Harris 46, Perry 3-16, Devine 2-23, Asha 2-27) by five wickets