Vadodara, Jan 29 (IANS) Skipper Meg Lanning’s early blitz and all-rounder Deepti Sharma’s resilient knock of 55 from 43 balls helped UP Warriorz (UPW) post a decent total of 143/8 in 20 overs in the must-win encounter against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the 18th match of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026 at the Baroda Cricket Association Stadium at Kotambi, in Vidarbha on Thursday.

The Warriorz started well after being put to bat first, and their new opening combination worked out really well as Lanning and Deepti stitched a brilliant partnership to put up 50 runs in the Power-play without losing their wickets.

It was the first 50-plus opening stand in seven innings for UPW this season and the second-highest Power-play score for the side this year after 56/1 against the Mumbai Indians.

The Warriorz skipper made a solid start and looked well set for a big innings, but her stay on the crease was cut short by Nadine de Klerk, who dismissed Lanning (41) off her very first delivery in the game in the ninth over and put an end to the UPW openers’ 74-run stand.

Amy Jones (1), who made her debut for UPW ahead of their crucial encounter, had an outing to forget in her maiden WPL game as the South African all-rounder scalped a second wicket in her over to send the English wicketkeeper-batter back to the dugout.

The Warriorz lost momentum after the fall of two quick wickets, and Grace Harris only added fuel to the fire in the 12th over with the wicket of Harleen Deol, who walked back to the pavilion scoring a run-a-ball 14.

While Deepti stood safe at one end, she saw her teammates losing their wickets at short intervals as Chloe Tryon (6) was stumped by Richa Ghosh off Grace Harris’ delivery in the 14th over. The spin-bowling all-rounder went on to raise her bat for a 40-ball fifty and looked to get going after reaching the landmark, only to fall off the final delivery of the penultimate over against Shreyanka Patil.

De Klerk bowled a brilliant final over as the game unfolded as a tale of two halves. After dismissing English spin-bowling all-rounder Sophie Ecclestone (0) off the second delivery, the Protea seamer had Simran Sheikh caught at long-on by Arundhati Reddy as the Warriorz closed their innings, scoring 143 runs at the loss of eight wickets, courtesy of Lanning’s early onslaught and the late stability provided by Deepti.

Brief scores:

UP Warriorz 143/8 in 20 overs (Deepti Sharma 55, Meg Lanning 41; Nadine de Klerk 4-22, Grace Harris 2-22) against Royal Challengers Bengaluru

--IANS

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