Playing their final league game at home in Lucknow, UP Warriorz showcased their best performance, setting a new Women’s Premier League record total of 225/5. The star of the show was 21-year-old Georgia Voll, who played an outstanding innings of 99 not out, supported by Kiran Navgire’s explosive 46 runs off just 16 balls. After a week’s break, RCB’s bowlers appeared out of form, bowling inconsistently with both short and full deliveries, which Voll and her teammates exploited to their advantage. RCB needed to surpass their own chasing record from the season opener to stay in the playoff race. They made a valiant effort, but ultimately fell short by 12 runs, suffering their fifth consecutive defeat and ending their title defense with one game remaining.
Grace Harris aggressively targeted Kim Garth in the powerplay, hitting five boundaries in Garth’s two overs, which conceded 22 runs. Voll continued the attack, hitting Renuka Thakur for three boundaries and then smashing Charlie Dean for a six over deep midwicket in her first WPL delivery. Voll finished the over with two more fours, achieving a half-century partnership in just 4.5 overs and helping Warriorz reach 67/0 by the end of the powerplay.
Even after the field restrictions were lifted, Harris continued to punish Garth’s shorter deliveries, contributing to a 77-run opening stand at 11 runs per over. A run-out against the flow of play provided RCB with a breakthrough when Harris was caught short of her crease attempting a risky single at the start of the eighth over.
However, RCB found little relief as Navgire launched a fierce counter-attack, hitting boundaries against RCB’s most experienced bowlers all around the ground. She welcomed Perry into the attack with a six and then capitalized on Georgia Wareham’s googly, hitting two consecutive sixes over the bowler’s head. Thakur was next to face Navgire’s onslaught. Despite starting with a good yorker, Thakur then bowled loose deliveries, which Navgire punished with two more sixes over deep midwicket, reaching 46 runs off just 15 balls. Navgire aimed for a quick fifty, but was caught out near long-off by Perry.
At 148/1 in the 13th over, Chinelle Henry was promoted up the batting order and contributed a quick 19 runs with boundaries, while Voll continued her dominant innings. Voll reached Warriorz’s 200 in the 17th over with back-to-back boundaries off Wareham.
RCB also made tactical errors in the middle overs, allowing Voll to target the short leg-side boundary easily. The 18th over was the only one without a boundary, but Sophie Ecclestone compensated with a couple of boundaries in Garth’s final over. Starting the final over on 91, Voll hit a low full toss from Dean for a boundary to reach 95. Two balls later, she missed a similar shot, and a single (and a run-out of Deepti Sharma at the other end) on the final ball meant she equaled Sophie Devine’s score of 99, the highest individual score in the WPL.
In their chase, Smriti Mandhana started well with a beautiful cover drive boundary but was dismissed softly in the third over, pulling a short ball from Henry straight to midwicket. This happened after S Meghana, playing her first game of the season as opener, attacked Harris for a 22-run over, including two sixes and two fours. Even as Perry settled in with three boundaries off Henry, Meghana mistimed a shot and was caught at long-on, giving Ecclestone a wicket in her first over.
Perry and Bist continued the attack, reaching 70/2 by the end of the powerplay, the highest powerplay score of the season so far. However, UPW kept taking wickets at regular intervals. Anjali Sarvani, playing her first match of WPL 2025, bowled a superb inswinger to dismiss Perry for 28. Three balls later, wicketkeeper Uma Chetry took an amazing one-handed diving catch to dismiss Raghavi Bist for 14 off 12 balls.
Sarvani then bowled a poor over, allowing Ghosh to settle in. Ghosh hit the first ball for a straight six and then found the boundary again, punishing two half-volleys through the covers. Kranti Goud bowled a quiet 10th over, during which RCB reached 100, followed by skipper Deepti Sharma’s over where the pressure of singles, with the required run rate above 12, affected Kanika Ahuja. Deepti bowled an arm-ball that skidded through and bowled Ahuja.
Throughout the middle overs, Ghosh’s aggressive counter-attack kept RCB in the game as she targeted Deepti, Sarvani, and Henry. Ghosh remained composed despite losing partners, reaching her fifty off 25 balls with her second consecutive six off Sarvani. However, a slog across the line went straight to Henry in the deep, ending her innings and effectively RCB’s chances.
Despite being nearly out of the competition, both teams delivered a record-breaking game on International Women’s Day. UPW almost experienced a similar situation to their previous match against Gujarat when Sneh Rana threatened to replicate Sophie Ecclestone’s batting performance from that game. Rana showed her batting prowess with a quickfire 26 runs off just six balls, hitting only sixes and fours. However, she was dismissed on the final ball of the penultimate over. This left RCB needing 15 runs off the final six balls with only one wicket remaining. They managed only two singles before Thakur was run-out, sending Gujarat Giants to the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.
Brief scores: UP Warriorz 225/5 in 20 overs (Georgia Voll 99*, Kiran Navgire 46, Grace Harris 39; Georgia Wareham 2-43) beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru 213 in 19.3 overs (Richa Ghosh 69, Sneh Rana 26; Sophie Ecclestone 3-25, Deepti Sharma 3-50) by 12 runs
