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, 10×4, 3×6) 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, 4×4, 4×6) 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.

Source: PTI News