RCB vs UPW, WPL 2023 Highlights: Alyssa Healy leads UPW to 10-wicket win, RCB's sink to fourth consecutive loss

Devine motors along. She hits it to long on where there is a midfield and the ball goes to the boundary. Devine reaches 25 off 13 balls, RCB are 29/0 in 3 overs. 

All Devine at the moment. She has raced to 20 off nine balls, hitting two more fours in the second over. 

10 runs off the first two balls for the New Zealand captain. Mandhana took a single off the first ball and Devine then hit the second ball over extra cover for four. She then mauls the third over deep midwicket. 

Right here they are, Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine form the utterly world class opening pair for RCB. Grace Harris opens the bowling for UPW

“The main message from the captain and coach has been true to true, we are enjoying this experience and playing with smiles on our face, looking to make the most of it. She (Harris) took the news really well, every time I looked at the big screen she had a smile on her face and was cheering on the team. It is a good problem to have such a quality player miss out but we have a good team mentality here and everyone is just team first. I was happier when I got the first ball duck but got the win, cricket is a funny game and hopefully we are back to winning. I did enjoy some time out in the middle, the World Cup was enjoyable, I had to play a slightly different role in the Australian team but absolutely loved that, I just love batting and I enjoyed my time in the middle, hopefully some more runs in the tournament. It is all about embracing and enjoying this experience, really making the most of this experience.”

Alyssa Healy(w/c), Shweta Sehrawat, Kiran Navgire, Tahlia McGrath, Deepti Sharma, Grace Harris, Devika Vaidya, Simran Shaikh, Sophie Ecclestone, Anjali Sarvani, Rajeshwari Gayakwad

Smriti Mandhana(c), Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Heather Knight, Richa Ghosh(w), Erin Burns, Shreyanka Patil, Kanika Ahuja, Sahana Pawar, Komal Zanzad, Renuka Thakur Singh

“Pretty sure we wanted to bat first. But we get to bowl first. Hopefully we'll restrict them to something we can chase. Pitch is not going to change too much. Shabnim Ismail misses out, Grace Harris is back in, much to everyone's delight. You look at the other night, we lost by 40, but if someone was there with Tahlia, we could've got closer.”

“Would like to bat first. Looks a good wicket. We've seen in the tournament a good total on the board helps. As a bowling unit, we had a word about bowling plans with regard to the short boundaries. Not the way we wanted to start, but it's a long tournament, want to keep our heads high.”

Smriti Mandhana wins the toss, RCB will bat first. Alyssa Healy says they are used to bowling first so it's fine. 

The England captain has emerged as Mandhana's most potent weapon. Apart from her four wickets across two games, Knight also played a 11-ball cameo against Giants, scoring five fours and a six on her way to an unbeaten 30.

RCB have only played at the Brabourne Stadium and it is at the Brabourne Stadium that they play today as well. If they are finding demons in the venue, they will have to somehow find a way past that today. 

Among the most dangerous power-hitters in the world, Healy, like Mandhana, is yet to truly show her true powers, although she has only played two matches. She was out for seven in UPW's first match and then for 24 off 17 against Delhi Capitals.

Smriti Mandhana scored 35 off 23 in the first match, 23 off 17 in the second and 18 off 14 in the third. We are yet to see the full bouquet of shots that she possesses and a nice, big innings from her will go a long way in helping RCB get off the duck.

RCB lost to Gujarat Giants by just 11 runs in their previous match. This is despite hte fact that GG had scored a mammoth 201/7. A valiant 66 off 45 balls from Sophie Devine and a rather blistering 30 not out off 11 balls from Heather Knight took RCB to a score of 190/6.

Alyssa Healy(w/c), Shweta Sehrawat, Kiran Navgire, Tahlia McGrath, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Simran Shaikh, Sophie Ecclestone, Shabnim Ismail, Anjali Sarvani, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Grace Harris, Lauren Bell, Laxmi Yadav, Parshavi Chopra, Soppadhandi Yashasri

Smriti Mandhana(c), Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Richa Ghosh(w), Heather Knight, Kanika Ahuja, Poonam Khemnar, Shreyanka Patil, Megan Schutt, Renuka Thakur Singh, Preeti Bose, Disha Kasat, Erin Burns, Komal Zanzad, Indrani Roy, Sahana Pawar, Asha Shobana, Dane van Niekerk

If RCB fans thought they can turn to their women's side in the hopes of winning a trophy after the men's team's repeated failures to win one, they may be filled with a familiar sense of gloom at this point. Smriti Mandhana's side have started life in the WPL with three consecutive defeats. They were utterly thrashed in the first two games but came close in the third and so, maybe, today they might get over the line. UPW, on the other hand, fell 42 runs short against the high-flying Delhi Capitals after completing an epic chase against Gujarat Giants to open their campaign.