NEW DELHI: Royal Challengers Bangalore faced challenges in accelerating the pace against a proficient Mumbai Indians bowling lineup, ultimately settling for a score of 131 for six in their
Women's Premier League
match in Bengaluru on Saturday.
RCB would have found themselves in a more precarious position if not for the partnership of
Elysse Perry
(44 not out, 38 balls, 5x4) and
Georgia Wareham
(27, 20 balls, 3x4), who added 52 runs for the sixth wicket.
This contribution came after MI opted to bowl first.
Despite missing regular captain Harmanpreet Kaur and premier pacer Shabnim Ismail due to injuries for the second consecutive match, Mumbai displayed unwavering intensity on the field.
The top-order batters of RCB lacked the necessary patience to withstand the storm when the MI bowlers maintained a disciplined line early in the innings.
Skipper
Smriti Mandhana
(9, 11 balls) grew impatient and looked to smash pacer Issy Wong out of the park. But the shot neither had power nor timing as Nat-Sciver Brunt completed a simple catch inside the circle.
It was a similar case with some other RCB top-order batters such as Richa Ghosh and S Meghana who tried to break the shackles by force, not the best approach when the bowlers are on top.
Ghosh fell to pacer
Pooja Vastrakar
, drilling a drive straight to Sanjana Sajeevan to mid-off, and Meghana's weak pull off Brunt ended in the hands of Keerthana Balakrishnan near backward square leg.
But Perry showed how to score runs here, selecting her balls to perfection to punish the bowlers. She pulled and cut Amelia Kerr for boundaries in successive balls when the leg-spinner erred in her length.
She found an able ally in Wareham, who complemented Perry with good rotation of strike and occasional hits to the fence.
(With inputs from PTI)
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