‘Mujhe yakeen nahi ho raha hum match jeet gaye’ – Fans elated as Bangalore register their first win of Women’s T20 League 2023
The Smriti Mandhana-led team faced off against the UP-based team in a must-win encounter.
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Mar 15, 2023 10:59 pm
Bangalore (Source: Twitter)
The 13th match of the inaugural Women’s T20 League saw the Bangalore team register their first win of the season. The Smriti Mandhana-led team faced off against the UP-based team in a must-win encounter at the Dr DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.
After winning the toss, the Women in Red elected to bowl first. This decision served them well, as UP lost a few early wickets. Sophie Devine took two wickets in the first over, and Asha Shobana took the third in the next over. For UP, Kiran Navgire and Grace Harris tried to put on a partnership but failed to do so.
Navgire (22 runs in 26 balls) was dismissed shortly after the powerplay. Deepti Sharma then joined Grace in the middle and put on a partnership that saved UP from a massive collapse. The two put on a 69-run partnership for the 6th wicket to take the team score to 100.
The partnership was timely, but it was cut short by Ellyse Perry soon after the strategic time out. UP was eventually bowled out for 135 runs after losing another wicket in a row. Perry was the standout bowler, taking three wickets. Shobana and Sophie Devine each took two wickets, while Shreyanka Patil only took one.
Kanika Ahuja stars in the chase for Bangalore
The chase began on a rough note for Bangalore as they lost both their openers in the first two overs. Heather Knight played a small cameo of 24 runs as Perry (10) supported her well. However, after their wickets, it was the young duo of Kanika Ahuja and Richa Ghosh that won them the game.
The two kept their boundaries in check and rotated the strike. Ghosh played second fiddle to Ahuja in charge of the chase. Ahuja batted brilliantly, but she was unable to score the winning runs for her team. Sophie Ecclestone dismissed her in the 17th over for a score of 46 runs.
In the next over, however, Ghosh (31 runs in 32 balls) provided the finishing touches for Bangalore as they won the match by five wickets. With this win, Bangalore got their first points on the board and kept their hopes for playoffs alive.
