Grace Harris powers RCB to big win over UP Warriorz in WPL

Grace Harris smashed a 40-ball 85, including the fastest fifty of the season, to lead Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a nine-wicket win over UP Warriorz in the WPL. Smriti Mandhana added 47 as RCB chased 144 in 12.1 overs

Navi Mumbai: Grace Harris produced a breathtaking display of power-hitting en route to a 40-ball 85 to script Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s emphatic nine-wicket win over UP Warriorz in their Women’s Premier League match here on Monday.

UP Warriorz recovered from a dramatic collapse to post 143 for 5, thanks to a superb rescue act by seasoned all-rounders Deandra Dottin and Deepti Sharma.

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Harris then smashed the fastest fifty of the season, racing to the landmark in just 22 balls before finishing with a scintillating knock that included 10 fours and five sixes.

The second successive victory lifted the former champions to the top of the standings.

Skipper Smriti Mandhana played the perfect foil with an elegant unbeaten 47 from 32 balls, including nine boundaries, as the pair put on a 137-run stand to make it a one-sided contest.

RCB chased down the target in just 12.1 overs, significantly boosting their net run rate.

Chasing 144, Harris set the tone in a brutal powerplay assault that left UP Warriorz shell-shocked. She tore into Deandra Dottin with a stunning exhibition of clean hitting, plundering 32 runs from one over that effectively decided the contest.

The Australian started by clobbering a no-ball for four and followed it up with three towering sixes and two more boundaries. Harris repeatedly cleared mid-wicket and mid-on with effortless power, bringing up her half-century in no time.

The onslaught continued against leg-spinner Asha Sobhana, whom Harris punished in a 17-run over as RCB raced to 100 in just 7.5 overs, the second-fastest team hundred in WPL history.

Harris fetched a wide full ball and drilled it through the leg-side fence before dropping to one knee to launch a huge 86-metre six over deep mid-wicket, her fourth maximum of the innings.

At the other end, Mandhana played with trademark grace and assurance and sealed the chase with Richa Ghosh after Harris got out with just seven needed to win.

Sent in to bat, UPW were 36 for 1 in the powerplay before losing four wickets in the space of eight balls to slump to 50 for 5 in the ninth over.

From that precarious position, Dottin and Deepti stitched together an unbroken 93-run stand from 72 balls to give their side something to defend.

Deepti anchored the innings with an unbeaten 45 off 35 balls, hitting five fours and a six, while Dottin chipped in with a fluent 40 not out from 37 balls, including three fours and a six.

The duo shifted gears in the death overs, scoring 67 runs in the last six to prop up UPW.

Dottin took on off-spinner Shreyanka Patil with a boundary and a six in the 15th over, while Deepti launched into Nadine de Klerk for a straight six in the penultimate over.

The final over yielded 15 runs, with Deepti smashing two fours off Shreyanka and Dottin adding another boundary.

UP Warriorz started cautiously, with Lauren Bell bowling a tight opening spell and removing Harleen Deol for 11 (14 balls) while keeping the run rate under six an over.

Shreyanka was introduced in the final over of the powerplay and almost struck immediately when Meg Lanning edged to Arundhati Reddy, but replays showed the ball had brushed the turf.

Phoebe Litchfield then tried to seize the momentum, hitting back-to-back boundaries and later striking Shreyanka for a big switch-hit six over deep cover.

But Shreyanka (2 for 50) had the last word in the same over, removing both Lanning (14) and Litchfield (20). Litchfield, who had raced to 20 off just nine balls, mistimed a drag-down and was caught by Mandhana at mid-on.

South African all-rounder Nadine de Klerk (2 for 28) then struck twice in an over, dismissing Kiran Navgire (5) and Shweta Sehrawat (0), triggering the collapse before Dottin and Deepti staged the recovery.