Royal Challengers Bangalore earned their first Women’s Premier League win as they beat UP Warriorz by five wickets.
Chasing 136, Bangalore slipped to 60-4 but were revived by a partnership of 60 between Richa Ghosh and Kanika Ahuja.
Ghosh finished unbeaten on 31 as Bangalore reached their target with two overs to spare.
Their qualification hopes are not over, but need to win their next two games and hope other results go their way.
In the first innings, Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry took 3-16 as UP Warriorz were bowled out for 135.
Sophie Devine removed both openers in the first over and the Warriorz slipped to 31-5 before a partnership of 69 between Grace Harris and Deepti Sharma led the recovery.
Ghosh missed an opportunity to have Harris stumped on nine and the Australian capitalised, smashing five fours and two sixes in her 46 from 32 balls.
Despite chasing a low total, Bangalore’s chase started poorly with openers Devine and Smriti Mandhana departing in the first two overs.
The game was in the balance when England captain Heather Knight fell for 24 in the ninth over but 19-year-old Ghosh and 20-year-old Ahuja played with exceptional maturity to steer Bangalore towards victory.
Ahuja, yet to be capped by India, looked dejected when she was bowled by England’s Sophie Ecclestone with 16 runs still required, but Ghosh struck a six and a four from the first two balls of the 18th over to ease any Bangalore nerves.
Mumbai Indians are the only team to have qualified for the knockout stages so far, with four teams now competing for the final two places.
Source – BBC Sport
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