WPL 2023: Alyssa Healy leads from the front as UP Warriorz thrash Royal Challengers Bangalore by 10 wickets

Alyssa Healy led from the front with a magnificent 96 not out as UP Warriorz thrashed Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday to compound the woes on Smriti Mandhana and Co.

It was RCB’s fourth straight loss in the tournament as Healy dismissed their bowlers to all parts of the ground and scored 18 boundaries and one six in her 47-ball 96.

Royal Challengers Bangalore won the toss and opted to bat first on the day. Sophie Devine had started off with a bang and got the team off to a strong start. However, Mandhana failed once again with the bat as she perished for just four runs.

Ellyse Perry joined Devine in the middle and the duo took the charge to the UP Warriorz and stitched together a 44-run partnership to put RCB in a strong position.

Sophie Eccelstone then picked the wicket of Devine and RCB started to lose their way at the point. Wickets started to fall at regular intervals with the likes of Kanika Ahuja and Heather Knight falling cheaply. Shreyanka Patil looked promising but could’t carry on and the wicket of Perry sealed the fate of the RCB innings as they went from 98 for four to 138 all out.

Eccelstone was the pick of the bowlers on the day for UPW as she picked up four wickets for 13 runs in 3.3 overs.

The Warriorz innings was off to a strong start with captain Alyssa Healy in full flow. The wicketkeeper-batter started to punish the RCB bowlers with ease. She was supported by Devika Vaidya who played the anchor role from the other end.

Healy scored her first fifty of the WPL 2023 campaign in 29 balls and then took a liking to Renuka Singh as she hit the RCB pacer for four consecutive boundaries in the ninth over.

The UPW skipper continued her onslaught on the RCB bowlers and for a moment it seemed like she could hit the maiden century in the history of the tournament.

Ultimately, Healy had to settle for 96 runs as UPW won the match by 10 wickets and had seven overs to spare. Vaidya remained not out on 36 runs from 31 balls.