That will be all for the blog. And so RCB not just get their first win, they are also off the bottom of the table on NRR. It’s DC vs GG on Thursday night with the latter now getting into desperate territory. And RCB will be hoping for a DC special.

Player of the match: Kanika Ahuja

RCB win by 5 wickets with 12 balls to spare: Asha Shobana, Kanika Ahuja, Richa Ghosh (and Shreyanka Patil hitting the winning run) doing well in RCB’s first win is somewhat fitting. However their season ends, they have some solid domestic talent in their set-up. Good for the tournament, good for them too tonight. Not to ignore Perry and Devine’s roles but this is worth highlighting

RCB win by 5 wickets with 12 balls to spare: A run-chase scripted by the youngsters. RCB stay alive. Smiles in the RCB camp.

RCB 136/5 after 18 overs: RCB WIN BY 5 WICKETS! With 12 balls to spare. The youngsters take RCB past the finish line. Ghosh hits a four and six, and lets Shreyanka hit the winning run afterward by not taking a two and settling for a single. Nice moment. Patil punches the air and RCB have points on the board.

RCB 124/5 after 17 overs: Shreyanka with a fine sweep for four and RCB are nearly there.

RCB 120/5 after 16.4 overs: WICKET! Ah that was avoidable. Too risky to take on Ecclestone who nails one on the middle and Ahuja’s sweep doesn’t connect. But what a knock. Ahuja b Ecclestone 46 (30 balls)

17 off 24 needed. Ecclestone in, and RCB can keep it risk-free.

RCB 119/4 after 16 overs: Deepti into the attack and once again the RCB batters don’t take too many chances. They have played this smartly.

RCB 114/4 after 15 overs: Healy completely misses a turner that goes through the bat-pad gap off Ghosh for 4 byes. Then a powerful cut for four. Expensive over again.

Harris to continue.

RCB 105/4 after 14 overs: Sensible from RCB to not take risks against Ecclestone. Richa Ghosh with another mix-up potentially in the middle but call was loud enough.

Ecclestone is back but perhaps an over too late.

RCB 101/4 after 13 overs: KANIKA AHUJA! After a long discussion Healy goes to Vaidya and it proves costly. A brilliant hit with the spin for six by Ahuja. And Richa finishes the over with four and RCB are nearly there.

RCB 88/4 after 12 overs: KANIKA AHUJA! The cameo has been turned into something substantial alright. Three fours in that Gayakwad over. Two brilliant sweeps and one over extra cover.

RCB 75/4 after 11 overs: Ahuja is playing a lovely knock here. Three fours in the last couple of overs, a misfield and outside edge helping her cause. Ghosh is taking her time to set in the meantime,

Quite something that RCB find themselves in such pressure after starting the match with UPW being 31/5 at one point.

RCB 60/4 after 9 overs: WICKET! RCB are not making this easy for themselves. There is plenty of fire in Deepti Sharma’s celebration as she gets the wicket of Heather Knight (not been long since all the fallout from Lord’s, has it?) r Knight c Navgire b Sharma 24 (21 balls)

RCB 55/3 after 8 overs: Gayakwad was about to bowl a really good over, but Knight not letting it happen. Brilliant reverse sweep for four off the last ball.

RCB 49/3 after 7 overs: What a big chance for Ahuja to convert one of her cameos into a handy winning knock here. She starts off with a four. Terrific over from Vaidya too. Healy clearly saw what Asha was able to extract.

RCB 43/3 after 6.1 overs: WICKET! Oh dear, RCB! Healy turns to Vaidya for the 7th over and the idea is right from Perry to not let UP get away with a quiet one. But she can’t clear the very tall Sophie at mid-on. Perry c Ecclestone b Vaidya 10 (13 balls)

RCB 43/2 after 6 overs: Knight with a four through the sweep again. 7 from the Gayakwad over. Despite the two wickets, RCB still on course. For now.

RCB 36/2 after 5 overs: Anjali with a very tidy first over.

RCB 32/2 after 4 overs: Ecclestone starts off conceding a four for Perry but keeps it tight.

RCB 27/2 after 3 overs: Two fours for Knight off Gayakwad’s over. In the 2nd over, nearly another mix-up between Knight and Perry. Don’t think Ellyse Perry would have been able to take another Heather Knight runout on her conscience

RCB 14/1 after 1.3 overs: WICKET! WOW. A three-ball duck for the RCB captain. Mandhana’s woes against spin continue. Goes for a sweep and is bowled. Mandhana b Sharma 0 (3 balls)

Deepti Sharma to Smriti Mandhana, the match-up battle.

RCB 14/1 after 1 over: 14 runs and a wicket! What a start to this chase. Devine with two fours and a six off Harris. But she goes for another off the last ball, and finds the fielder in the deep. Devine c McGrath b Harris 14 (6 balls)

Grace Harris to start, and RCB do the right thing by putting Sophie Devine on strike.

How good was Ellyse Perry?

RCB need 136 to stay alive in the tournament.

UPW 135 all out after 19.3 overs: A lovely mid-innings chat between Harsha Bhogle and Asha Shobana. A very grateful Asha for the chance she has gotten.

UPW 135 all out after 19.3 overs: WICKET! Shocking game awareness there from Gayakwad. Didn’t try to put Sophie on strike and didn’t even bother to call no. The English allrounder is fuming as she walks back. Ecclestone run out 12 (9 balls)

UPW 133/9 after 19.2 overs: WICKET! Four and out. Patil has been expensive but she will pick up a wicket. Sarvani c Ahuja b Patil 8 (9 balls)

UPW 129/8 after 19 overs: A four for Ecclestone (another batter who hasn’t been used all that well by this team) to finish that Schutt over.

UPW 120/8 after 18 overs: A slightly wayward over from Perry but she can be delighted with 4-0-16-3.

UPW 112/8 after 17.2 overs: FOUR AND OUT! Shweta hits a four through the offside but then misses the ball trying to sweep as Perry has her third. Sehrawat b Perry 6 (6 balls)

UPW 108/7 after 17 overs: Shweta is given out but she reviews it and there is no edge. Schutt concedes a four to Ecclestone.

UPW 101/7 after 15.3 overs: WICKET! Elite, Perry! Brilliant bouncer and it sees Harris edge one behind. No mistake from Ghosh this time. Harris c Ghosh b Perry 46 (32 balls)

UPW 100/6 after 15.1 overs: WICKET! That is a gift for RCB. A full toss on her pads and Deepti hits it straight to the fielder in the deep. Poor, poor shot. Sharma c Patil b Perry 22 (19 balls)

UPW 100/5 after 15 overs: The runs flowing for UPW. Two fours for Harris in that Renuka over, who continues to struggle.

UPW 89/5 after 14 overs: How have RCB put themselves under pressure after four wickets in the first seven overs? Two fours for Deepti in the Devine over. She finishes with 4-0-23-2.

UPW 79/5 after 12 overs: Asha must be fuming inside I imagine but she is not showing it as Harris smacks another six in that over and finishes with four. What a massive mistake it could be. Asha finishes with 4-0-27-2 and it should have been so much better.

UPW 63/5 after 12 overs: Expensive over from Shreyanka and that stumping miss already looking costly. Six, four for Harris and a four for Deepti.

UPW 48/5 after 11 overs: STUMPING MISSED! Richa, oh Richa. ASha deceives Harris all over in flight but the keeper misses. Asha Shobana has figures of 2/11 in her 3 overs and a had catch dropped (Deepti Sharma) and stumping missed (Grace Harris). Terrific spell so far. That Harris miss could still prove costly.

UPW 43/5 after 10 overs: Grace Harris on 6 off 12 and Deepti Sharma on 6 off 7. Match being played in an alternate universe. Who could have thought? Tidy over from Perry, Harris nailed a pull straight to the fielder so that helped.

UPW 36/5 after 9 overs: Asha should have had another. Knight drops one at the slip as Deepti edges Asha. Perhaps blinded a bit by Richa there. Deepti hits the next ball for four.

UPW 31/5 after 8.1 overs: WICKET! Asha got a game early but was left out after that. The last two matches though she has been terrific. The attempted sweep goes nowhere and Ahuja takes a good catch at midwicket. Shaikh c Ahuja b Asha 2 (9 balls)

UPW 31/4 after 8 overs: Lovely over from Perry as Harris and Shaikh both struggle to keep the scoreboard ticking.

Perry the new bowler in.

Simran Shaikh joins Grace Harris in the middle.

UPW 29/4 after 6.2 overs: WICKET! Asha Shobana strikes immediately after the powerplay and RCB have their 4th wicket! Kiran Navgire falls to the sweep again after a decent hand. That sweep shot again leading to her downfall. Navgire c Ghosh b Asha 22 (26 balls)

UPW 29/3 after 6 overs: Can’t blame Renuka for going full in search of swing, but Navgire nails this lofted shot down the ground for a six. Good comeback from the seamer to keep Harris quiet. A terrific powerplay ends for RCB.

Can Renuka find her groove?

UPW 20/3 after 5 overs: Knight also said that Devine started swinging the ball in the warm-up and they decided to throw the ball to her as anyway nothing much else was working. And boom. Another tidy over from her. Three in the powerplay.

UPW 17/3 after 4 overs: Navgire with another boundary. Was a good over from Schutt till the last delivery. She hasn’t timed too many well, that was.

Heather Knight, mic’d up at the start of the RCB innings, says Virat Kohli stopped by earlier today (I think, didn’t hear it properly) to have a chat with the team. Recalled the time the men’s team went on a run of defeats. Knight also adds it was a good motivation for the side.

UPW 13/3 after 3 overs: Navgire is going for her shots. Mishits a couple but gets a four in that Devine over.

UPW 5/3 after 2 overs: WICKET! WOW! McGrath gone too. Schutt gets the outside edge and Ghosh takes a good low catch. McGrath c Ghosh b Schutt 2 (2 balls)

UPW 2/2 after 1 overs: WICKET! She hates ‘Devine intervention; so we won’t go there! But what a start for RCB. The captain is gone, flicking one straight to midwicket. Healy c Asha b Devine 1 (3 balls)

UPW 1/1 after 0.2 overs: WICKET! Devine with a terrific delivery. The ball shapes back into LHB Vaidya. Full enough. Beats Vaidya all ends up. Given out, umpire’s call on review. Vaidya lbw b Devine 0 (1 ball)

Healy and Vaidya opening again. Devine to start for RCB, despite Schutt finding form last time.

Huddle time for RCB. Smriti Mandhana thanked the fans at the toss and also said the players in the camp are rallying around each other. For the tournament’s sake, a RCB win would be welcome. UPW won’t care though.

7.24 pm: Healy and Vaidya were severe on RCB bowlers at CCI. An unbeaten century stand. An early wicket or three is an absolute must for RCB.

Play

7.17 pm: Sophie Devine has been warming up a lot, says Lauren Winfield Hill. A back-up should Renuka struggle again I imagine.

7.13 pm: Renuka Thakur has struggle for RCB and it’s a big part for their bowling issues. They’d love for her to come to the party today. But against DC, their spinners Asha and Shreyanka stepped up well.

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

RCB XI: Smriti Mandhana(c), Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Heather Knight, Richa Ghosh(w), Kanika Ahuja, Shreyanka Patil, Disha Kasat, Megan Schutt, Asha Shobana, Renuka Thakur

TOSS: Smriti Mandhana opts to bowl first. Fit-again Kanika Ahuja comes in for Preeti Bose. Alyssa Healy wanted to bowl first as well. Fit-again Grace Harris replaces Shabnim Ismail.

6.53 pm: RCB have struggled to get going against spin and UPW probably have the best attack in the tournament. That is going to be the battle to watch out for.

Play

6.50 pm: The venue for this is DY Patil stadium. RCB had hoped for a change in fortunes with the change in venue for last match, it hadn’t happened. The pitches are getting a little slower across both venues, so they’ll hope their bowlers can have bigger impacts. And of course, Mandhana is due with the bat.

Remaining matches

MATCH NO. DAY Date Match Timing IST Venue
13 Wed 15-Mar-23 UPW vs RCB 7:30 PM DY Patil Stadium
14 Thu 16-Mar-23 DC vs GG 7:30 PM Brabourne - CCI
15 Sat 18-Mar-23 MI vs UPW 3:30 PM DY Patil Stadium
16 Sat 18-Mar-23 RCB vs GG 7:30 PM Brabourne - CCI
17 Mon 20-Mar-23 GG vs UPW 3:30 PM Brabourne - CCI
18 Mon 20-Mar-23 MI vs DC 7:30 PM DY Patil Stadium
19 Tue 21-Mar-23 RCB vs MI 3:30 PM DY Patil Stadium
20 Tue 21-Mar-23 UPW vs DC 7:30 PM Brabourne - CCI
21 Fri 24-Mar-23 Eliminator 7:30 PM DY Patil Stadium
22 Sun 26-Mar-23 Final 7:30 PM Brabourne - CCI

06.50 pm Hello and welcome to the live coverage of Women’s Premier League. It’s match No 13 and Royal Challengers Bangalore will be hoping (desperately) that is lucky 13. They take on UP Warriorz.

Is today the day? Five defeats in five for Smriti Mandhana and Co. A defeat tonight and there is no need for scenarios and calculators. Their tournament is over. Alyssa Healy’s UPW have won two matches so far and one of those came against RCB, and it was arguably their best performance.

RCB came close to a win last time around but close won’t cut it anymore.

WPL 2023, UPW vs RCB recap: Spinners and Healy’s 96* power UPW to big win, RCB remain winless

TOSS: Smriti Mandhana opt to bat first

First innings: RCB 138 all out after 19.3 overs

Second innings: UPW 139/0 after 13 overs

Photos / screenshots in the blog courtesy: Sportzpics / wplt20.com and JioCinema