Navi Mumbai, Jan 12 (IANS) UP Warriorz captain Meg Lanning admitted that her side was comprehensively outplayed by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) as the latter cruised to a nine-wicket win with 47 balls to spare in their Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026 clash at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai on Monday night.

“No, of course, not! We hoped to start with a win or two. We were outplayed by RCB tonight. Not our best night,” Lanning said after the defeat. “They bowled well up front and put us under pressure. Then never let us in the game with the bat. So, plenty to work for us. The good thing is that the games are coming thick and fast. So, we will move on pretty quickly.”

RCB’s dominance in this match stemmed from a fine partnership between Smriti Mandhana and Grace Harris against UPW, both sharing an opening stand that was as fierce as they could be. The massive partnership allowed RCB to easily reach a modest target of 144 runs. Grace Harris smashed an incredible 85 runs off just 40 balls while Smriti Mandhana was not out on 47 at the time of the partnership.

The two players’ partnership of 137 runs for the first wicket of RCB became the highest opening partnership in the franchise’s history, and the chase had already been effectively concluded before the end of the match; at the point when RCB lost their first wicket, the team only needed to score 7 runs off 74 balls to win the match.

Lanning reserved special praise — and frustration — for Harris. “It’s pretty difficult when she gets going. She plays all around the ground and also showed how well she can play straight down the ground,” she said. “Once she gets into that rhythm, she’s hard to stop. She has brute force. Unfortunately, she got going tonight. We couldn’t stop her.”

Lanning admitted UP Warriorz never found momentum with the bat. “With the bat, we never got going, unfortunately. We chewed too many dot balls up front, including me. We need to be better there,” she said. “Don’t want to take anything from RCB. They bowled extremely well up front and never let us get away.”

RCB decided to bowl first, and their impressive opening bowlers dismantled the UP Warriorz top order and left them in danger of losing early. UP Warriorz made a late recovery thanks to Deepti Sharma (45 not out) and Deandra Dottin (40) after they built a partnership of 93 runs for the sixth wicket, which lifted their final score to 143 runs. The partnership also became the second-highest sixth-wicket partnership in WPL history.

Reflecting on the bowling plans, Lanning spoke about Shikha Pandey’s use of cross-seam deliveries with the new ball. “Shikha is one of the best bowlers in this competition, and she mixes it up. Sometimes trying to get swing, sometimes hitting the pitch harder,” she said. “It didn’t quite come off tonight, unfortunately, but that happens.”

With this win, RCB moved to the top of the points table with four points, while UP Warriorz were left to regroup quickly as the games continue to come thick and fast in the tournament.

–IANS

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