Grace Harris sizzles in RCB's statement win

Grace Harris' destructive 85 helped RCB make it two in two with a convincing nine-wicket win over UP Warriorz to climb back to the top of the points table. Harris shared a 69-ball 137-run stand with Smriti Mandhana (47*)—78 of which came in the PowerPlay alone—to complete the chase after UPW posted 143.

UP Warriorz came out with a new batting partner for Meg Lanning in Harleen Deol, but the experiment failed. Harleen hit a couple of boundaries, but it wasn't until Phoebe Litchfield's arrival in the final over of the PowerPlay that the team showed intent. UPW were in for more blows, though.

Lanning got an early reprieve when replays showed a low catch claimed by Arundhati Reddy had touched the ground. But offspinner Shreyanka Patil's following over brought wickets at either end. Lanning sent another low catch to Radha Yadav at deep midwicket. Litchfield counter-attacked with a reverse sweep for six before swatting the last ball of the over straight to Smriti Mandhana at mid-on.

Nadine de Klerk then took two wickets in two balls to dent UPW further. Kiran Navgire, who opened her account with a boundary, holed out to deep midwicket. Shweta Sehrawat then drove a full, wide delivery straight to backward point. RCB bowled out UPW's powerplay, restricting them to 56/5 by the halfway mark.

For the next 27 deliveries, Warriorz scored only 25 runs before Deandra Dottin broke the shackles with a four and a six off Patil. The fifty partnership came in 46 deliveries, setting up a death-overs flourish. They added 43 in the last four overs, with Patil leaking 15 in the 20th. The unbroken 93-run stand gave Warriorz a respectable 143.

That, however, was never going to be enough. Harris and Mandhana came out blazing, sparing neither spin nor pace. The duo raced to 46/0 in five overs. Harris then unleashed carnage in the final PowerPlay over, hitting Dottin for three sixes and three fours. The 32-run over became the joint-most expensive in WPL history.

Mandhana welcomed Sophie Ecclestone with back-to-back boundaries, while Harris tore into Asha Sobhana with a six and a four to take RCB past 100 in the eighth over. Harris got a life on 84 but fell next ball to Shikha Pandey.

The damage was already done. RCB promoted Richa Ghosh with only seven needed, and she got off the mark with a four. Four byes sealed the win with 7.5 overs to spare.

Brief scores:
UP Warriorz 143/5 in 20 overs (Deepti Sharma 45*, Deandra Dottin 40*; Nadine de Klerk 2-28, Shreyanka Patil 2-50) lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru 145/1 in 12.1 overs (Grace Harris 85, Smriti Mandhana 47*; Shikha Pandey 1-28) by 9 wickets.