Grace Harris rampage propels RCB to historic win against UP Warriorz

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru doubled their winning tally as they blew apart UP Warriorz emphatically in the second contest of the season. A collective display from the bowlers coupled with a Grace Harris storm left the Warriorz reeling in Navi Mumbai.

Winning the toss, RCB opted to bowl first. There was just one change from the last game and that was the inclusion of Gautami Naik in place of Prema Rawat. Lauren Bell once again started proceedings economically and Linsey Smith found her rhythm today.

It was Bell who drew first blood for RCB, removing Harleen Deol (11). Shreyanka Patil bolstered RCB’s hold on the game, removing the UP captain, Meg Lanning (14). Radha Yadav grabbed a fabulous catch to get rid of the dangerous Aussie batter.

Phoebe Litchfield (20) looked in control at the start of her innings but couldn’t get going as Patil struck her second wicket of the day, reducing UPW to 50/3. RCB’s hero of the last game, Nadine de Klerk, struck gold again as her double whammy dismissed Kiran Nagvire (5) and Shweta Sehrawat (0).

Wobbling at 50/5, the Warriorz needed something special to stay afloat. That is when Deepti Sharma (45*) and Deandra Dottin (40*) came together with the overhaul. An unbroken stand of 95 runs between the two propelled UP to 145/5. Nadine de Klerk was once again the pick of the lot for RCB with figures of 2/28 while Lauren Bell and Arundhati Reddy’s miserly figures blunted the sting of the Warriorz.

However, for the ones who thought that RCB’s bowling was truly the tip of the spear in this game, they were in for a rude awakening. Aussie all-rounder, Grace Harris, came smashing from ball one itself and there was no mercy that followed. She was in no mood to take prisoners and the cricket ball was bent out of shape over and over and over again, every time she swung for the fence, literally.

The duo of Grace Harris and Smriti Mandhana added 137 runs from just 70 balls, rewriting the contours of power-hitting. Harris spared no bowler at all but Deandra Dottin was punished the worst amongst the others. The final over of the powerplay bowled by Dottin went for 32 runs, 30 of which came from Harris’ bat.

Grace brought up her half-century in just 22 balls, smashing Dottin over mid-on for a maximum. Despite getting a couple of lives towards the end, she fell for 85 from just 40 balls, rocking 10 fours and five sixes.

Mandhana stayed unbeaten till the very end for 47 from 32 balls as RCB secured their biggest-ever win in terms of chasing down a total, registering a nine-wicket victory with 47 balls to spare. Harris was unanimously picked for the Player of the Match award as she left the bowlers in utter disarray with an unprecedented storm that consumed Navi Mumbai.