RCB vs UPW WPL 2025 Highlights: UP Warriorz wins by 12 runs, knocks out Royal Challengers Bengaluru

RCB vs UPW WPL 2025 Highlights: UP Warriorz wins by 12 runs, knocks out Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Credits: SANDEEP SAXENA/The Hindu

It’s Georgia Voll with the ball now. Concedes a single on the first ball. Could have been a run out at the non-striker’s end on the second. But it is a successful run-out on the next ball. Renuka Singh was a long way down. OUT! That’s the game!

Renuka Singh run out (Sehrawat/Sharma/Voll) 1 (1)

UPW wins by 12 runs. 

This chase isn’t done just yet. SIX! Sneh Rana goes straight down and clears the fence with ease. Another one! Takes a step down and launches it over deep midwicket. FOUR! Slapped through deep midwicket. Has to bowl one more time, that’s a no ball! SIX! Sneh Rana hammers the full toss over deep midwicket fence, again. OUT! She cannot clear the fence this time. 

Sneh Rana c Khemnar b Sharma 26 (6)

Ecclestone to bowl out. A couple of singles to begin the over. Full toss and Dean skips down a fraction to launch this between long on and deep midwicket. Lands directly on the cushion meaning that’s SIX! And Dean does not last another ball. OUT! Tries to reverse scoop it but holes out to short third. 

Charlie Dean c Navgire b Ecclestone 9 (5)

Wareham falls soon after! Sends it straight to cover. 

Georgia Wareham c sub (A Goel) b Ecclestone 17 (15)

Deepti with the ball. Two singles to start the over and Richa back on strike. OUT! Holes out to deep midwicket. Deepti drew Richa out perfectly and RCB loses a major wicket. 

Richa Ghosh c Henry b Sharma 69 (33)

Charlie Dean comes in. Off the mark with a single. 

Henry to bowl out. Dropped! Wareham heaves towards deep midwicket but Kranti cannot hokd on to the ball. Richa on strike and that’s FOUR! Width on offer, Richa slashed it over backward point to the ropes. Takes a moment to check the field and unleashes a SIX! Whipped over deep midwicket. 14 runs.

Timeout. A necessity at this point. 

SIX! Richa dispatches that over deep midwicket. SIX more! And that’s a fifty for Richa! Reloads the previous one. And she isn’t done just yet.. FOUR! Goes behind point this time. 18 runs off the over. 

Ecclsetone returns. FOUR! Richa pierces the gap between point and backward point. Passes the strike to Wareham but the Australian cannot contribute. 5 runs. 

SIX to start this Deepti over! Back of a length and pulled by Richa over deep backward square leg. FOUR! Powered through cover-point. Now, Wareham on strike. They have to settle for running between the wickets. Still ,13 runs. 

FOUR for Wareham! Short, angling in, Wareham pulls it just past short fine leg. FOUR more! Fielder running from sweeper cover couldn’t keep the rebound from the fence. A wide and a few singles, 12 runs coming off the Kranti over. 

Deepti Sharma with the ball. A single to deep extra cover for Kanika. Richa too takes one run to long on. A couple of singles and a thwarted runout attempt on the fifth ball. OUT! Deepti had enough and cleans up Kanika. Perfect end to her over. 

Kanika Ahuja b Sharma 8 (110)

Kranti back. No boundary conceded this over. Five singles taken. 

Richa gets down on one knee and smacks the ball over long off fence. SIX! A ball later, FOUR! Through the cover fielder and no protection in the deep. Make that FOUR again! Between cover and point this time. Too much width on offer. 15 runs. 

Henry to bowl her third. OUT! Raghvi Bisht is sent back by Uma who takes a brilliant one-handed catch, leaping to her right. 

Raghvi Bist c †Chetry b Henry 14 (12)

Kanika Ahuja drives to sweeper single for a single to get off the mark.They run a few singles and that’s seven runs off the over. 

Anjali Sarvani with the ball. FOUR! Tossed up full and going down leg, Perry whisks it over short fine leg. OUT! THE BIG WICKET OF PERRY! The fuller ball is on target, and the wickets lights flicker!

Ellyse Perry b Anjali Sarvani 28 (15)

Richa Ghosh off the mark with a single. 

Ecclestone to Perry. FOUR! Sweeps up and over backward square leg. Over quiets down to only three more singles. 7 runs followed by the first timeout. 

FOUR! Kranti Goud does not have the best of starts. FOUR! Perry smashes it straight over the bowler. Big mistake by Uma Chetry who lets the wide ball go through her, five wides. FOUR! Raghvi gets an edge but it flies over short third. FOUR again to end the over! Hammered over mid on. 

Sophie Ecclestone replaces Kranti Goud. OUT! Meghana is the next RCB batter to fall! Floated full on middle, Meghana doesn’t get enough power on it but finds Voll at long on. Voll cannot be kept away from the action here.

Sabbhineni Meghana c Voll b Ecclestone 27 (12)

Raghvi Bisht off the mark with two runs, flicked to deep midwicket. 

Henry continues. OUT! Smriti has to walk back! Short ball pulled straight to Voll at midwicket. UPW picks a big wicket. 

Smriti Mandhana c Voll b Henry 4 (4)

Ellyse Perry in at 3. FOUR! Stand up straight and cuts it past point. Off the mark. Angling down leg and Perry uses the pace and nudges it to fine leg fence. FOUR! FOUR more to end the over! Pulled behind square leg. 

Meghana starts Grace Harris’ over with a FOUR! Whacks to square leg fence. Make that FOUR more for Meghana! Pulled to deep midwicket fence. Back-to-back SIXES! Meghana is on the attack! Drilled over long off and pulled over deep midwicket fence! 

Sabbhineni Meghana and Smriti Mandhana to begin for RCB. A humongous chase awaits. Chinelle Henry with the new ball. Meghna off the mark with a double through extra cover. Picks a single with a flick to long on, not enough power on it to go to the ropes. FOUR! Smriti starting strong with, driven through covers. 

FOUR for Voll! Gets a step closer to a century. Major midfield allows Voll to come back on strike. But she has to settle for a single. Will Ecclestone manage to take a run and hand strike back? No she cannot. OUT! Middle stump is the prize for Dean!

Sophie Ecclestone b Dean 13 (10)

Deepti Sharma off the mark with a… single! Voll on strike. What can she do? SINGLE TAKEN AND SHE FALLS A RUN SHORT OF A 100!

Deepti Sharma run out (Perry/†Ghosh) 1 (1)

Kim Garth with her last over. Ecclestone drives one to deep cover for a single. Voll can’t time the pull to midwicket, will only get a single. Four!! Full and wide, Ecclestone edges it past the wicketkeeper for a boundary. FOUR to end the over! 

A wicket helps RCB stem the run flow. Just five singles from Perry’s last over. 

WICKET!! RCB finally get a breakthrough. Short snd wide, Henry cuts it straight to the fielder at point. Wareham gets her second. 

Chinelle Henry c Mandhana b Wareham 19(15)

Sophie Ecclestone in at 5. Four!! Voll gets down and sweeps one from outside off through square leg for a boundary. Four!! Full and wide, driven through cover for four more. 

FOUR! Reverse swept past short third. Henry gets on strike and that’s two FOURs off her bat! Flicks the first one through midwicket and uses the width to smack it over the infield. 14 runs. 

Timeout. 

Henry didn’t intend to place it behind short third but the ball flies off the edge and goes for FOUR! She has another go at it after they rotate strike and that’s FOUR! Could have been SIX but lands just short of deep mid-off fence. 

Dean to Voll, that’s FOUR! Slogged with so much power that deep midwicket on the longer boundary knows it’s going to the fence. A couple of singles but that’s another FOUR for Voll to end the over! Targets the lon-on region this time. 

A single and Kiran on strike. OUT! Kiran was en route to what could have been the quickest half-century in WPL. Mighty effort by her comes to an end off Wareham’s bowling. 

Kiran Navgire c Perry b Wareham 46 (16)

Chinelle Henry has come in at 5, quite new for her. Off the mark with a single. Voll on strike, and that’s FOUR! Behind square leg region and deep mid wicket could not reach there in time. Massive over nevertheless. 

FOUR! Renuka welcomed back by Kiran with a flick through backward square leg. Misfields not helping RCB’s case but three of the fielders pull off a save somehow to keep it to two. FOUR and SIX! Deep mid wicket being the prized area for Kiran both boundaries over deep mid wicket area. Make that another SIX to end the over! 

And Georgia Voll gets to her 50 with a FOUR! A second successive one for the Australian! Full toss off Sneh Rana, gets down on her knee and slogs it wide of deep midwicket. FOUR more! Full and wide, same shot and wide of the diving deep midwicket fielder. 13 runs. 

RCB upping their fielding game and saves two at long on. But Navgire goes over on the next, back-to-back SIXES! Hammered over long on and goes pin straight down just past the fence. A couple of singles to end the over, that’s 17 runs off Wareham’s over! 

Navgire with a SIX! Pulls the half-tracker over deep square ropes. Voll on strike now and that’s FOUR! Powers it in the gap past fine leg and beats the diving fielder in the deep. 12 runs off the over. 

Georgia Wareham into the attack. OUT! Harris, what have you done?! Voll strikes the ball to extra cover but Harris was a long way down the track. Couldn’t get back in time.

Grace Harris run out (Mandhana/Wareham) 39 (22)

Voll doesn’t let the momentum slip away, FOUR! Cuts between point and short third, finally managing to get through the heavily protected off-side. 

Garth continues and that’s FOUR! Harris makes room and slices with so much power past point. FOUR again! Finds the gap between deep square leg and deep mid-wicket. A single and she hands charge to Voll. And Grace is back on strike with a single to long on. Last two are dots. 10 off the over. 

Ellyse Perry has been handed the ball. Rammed it into the deck right up front trying to go short, ends up going well over the batter’s head. Wide called for height. Harris then runs a single through square leg. Georgia Voll whips out the off side cut shot. Goes through point for FOUR. She goes again, this time through backward point for FOUR again. Voll is enjoying the peppering of short balls from her Aussie teammate here. 10 runs come off the Perry over. Massive powerplay for UPW. In fact, this is the highest score in the first six overs this season. 

Charlie Dean bowls her first delivery of WPL 2025 and is welcomed with a massive six over the leg side, between square and midwicket by Georgia Voll. Recovers for a dot ball does Dean. Voll targetted the shorter 51m boundary for that shot. Voll tries to reverse sweep the ball, but only a dot results. She then goes to her conventional sweep to get the ball through square leg for four. She has been tossing it up and is punished accordingly. A full toss off the last ball and its stuck for four through long on. 14 runs off this over. 

Renuka to Voll. Bounced off Voll’s front pad but she’s off on the very next ball. FOUR! Too much width, Voll slaps through cover and point. FOUR more! Whips over the infield, and to the deep square leg boundary. One more FOUR! It’s raining boundaries! Targets behind point again. 13 runs. 

Garth continues. FOUR! Smacked straight down the track between the umpire and Voll. FOUR! And FOUR more! Picking out the gaps with precision, scooped past short fine leg and slashes through point on the next. Ends with two dots but that’s 12 runs off the over, 

Renuka Singh from the other end. Nips back in and beats Voll’s outside edge. One leg bye taken. SIX! Stand and deliver from Harris! In the slot, dispatched over mid on. A single off the last ball. 8 runs. 

Kim Garth with the new ball. FOUR! Some way to start the match. Grace Harris begins with a paddle scoop to an empty fine leg region. FOUR more! Slapped from outside off through midwicket. Takes a single through point to hand Voll the strike. She gets off the mark as well, pulled well to deep mid wicket but stopped in the deep. 10 runs.

RCB players are on the field. UPW openers Grace Harris and Georgia Voll are making their way to the centre. Last match in Lucknow! Game time!

The past week has been a blur in Georgia Voll’s life. In the middle of a renovation job for her Brisbane home and a spectacular Women’s National Cricket League campaign for Queensland Fire, the last thing the 21-year-old saw coming was a call-up to the Women’s Premier League in India.

“My manager randomly called me and said, ‘Oh well, put the tools down and be ready,’” Voll told Sportstar on the sidelines of the Lucknow leg of the league.

Read Lavanya Lakshmi Narayan’s piece on Georgia Voll’s cricketing journey: 

RCB: Smriti Mandhana(c), Charlotte Dean, Ellyse Perry, Raghvi Bist, Richa Ghosh(wk), Kanika Ahuja, Georgia Wareham, Kim Garth, Sneh Rana, Renuka Singh Thakur, Sabbhineni Meghana

Charlie Dean makes WPL debut, replaces Danni Wyatt-Hodge, S Meghana in for Ekta Bisht. 

UPW: Grace Harris, Georgia Voll, Kiran Navgire, Deepti Sharma(c), Chinelle Henry, Shweta Sehrawat, Poonam Khemnar, Uma Chetry(wk), Sophie Ecclestone, Kranti Goud, Anjali Sarvani

Vrinda Dinesh and Gouher Sultana are out, Poonam Khemnar and Anjali Sarvani.

RCB wins the toss, opts to bowl. 

Square boundaries 59m and 51m, straight boundary 66m. Looks hard and well rolled, according to WV Raman. 

Dew will play a big role, so batting second will be the choice of the toss-winning captain. 

Homeside UP Warriorz will be sporting a pink jersey to mark International Women’s Day!

Credit: Instagram/@upwarriorz

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU: Smriti Mandhana (C), Danielle Wyatt-Hodge, Richa Ghosh, Ellyse Perry, Raghvi Bist, Kim Garth, Kanika Ahuja, Georgia Wareham, Sneh Rana, Renuka Singh Thakur, Ekta Bisht, Sabbhineni Meghana, Prema Rawat, Nuzhat Parween, Jagravi Pawar, Heather Graham, Charlotte Dean, Joshitha VJ

UP WARRIORZ: Deepti Sharma (C), Kiran Navgire, Chamari Athapaththu, Tahlia McGrath, Vrinda Dinesh, Uma Chetry, Grace Harris, Shweta Sehrawat, Chinelle Henry, Saima Thakor, Kranti Goud, Sophie Ecclestone, Anjali Sarvani, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Alana King, Poonam Khemnar, Arushi Goel, Gouher Sultana

An eliminated UP Warriorz takes on a struggling Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the final match at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Saturday. 

UPW vs RCB is Match No. 18

Hello and welcome back to WPL 2025 action! 

It’s the final match in Lucknow, meaning only two more league matches remain before it’s Playoffs time!