Richa Ghosh's 90 in vain as Mumbai Indians edge RCB in WPL thriller

Chasing 200, RCB collapsed to 35/5 in the Power-play as Hayley Matthews and Shabnim Ismail tore through the top order, leaving the side in huge danger of suffering a big hit to their net run rate. But Richa had other ideas, as she launched a breathtaking counter-attack, smashing 90 off 50 balls with 10 fours and six sixes to nearly pull off an improbable victory.

After crawling to 55 off 40 balls in 18 overs, Ghosh exploded in the final two, plundering 35 runs to give MI a genuine scare before falling agonisingly short of a win by being dismissed on the last ball, as RCB ended up making 184/9.

Apart from those last two overs, it was a commanding performance from MI, who have kept their playoff hopes alive. Hayley returned with figures of 3-10, as the win lifted MI back to second place on the points table.

Nat Sciver-Brunt had earlier struck the first century in WPL's history to propel MI to a formidable 199/4. After Hayley and Shabnim did the early damage, Richa found support from Nadine de Klerk and Arundhati Reddy in the middle order, but the early damage proved to be too severe despite her late heroics.

The defeat marks RCB's second consecutive loss after winning their opening five matches. For MI, the victory provided a crucial confidence boost in a must-win encounter, with their senior players delivering when it mattered most despite the late wobble.

MI struck early with the ball when Shabnim had Grace Harris, who earlier hit Nat for a hat-trick of fours, in the third over, by having caught behind by Rahila Firdous. Hayley compounded RCB's woes by dismissing skipper Smriti Mandhana and Georgia Voll in quick succession. More cheer was in store for MI when Gautami Naik was bowled by Shabnim, while Radha Yadav fell for a two-ball duck to Hayley, as RCB were five down in power-play.

Nadine de Klerk attempted a fightback with 28 off 20 balls, striking a six and three boundaries, but was undone by Amelia Kerr's googly in the 11th over. When Arundhati Reddy and Sayali Satghare departed in successive deliveries from Amanjot Kaur, it left RCB at 129/8.

At the other end, Richa fought a lone battle. She began cautiously but accelerated after the halfway mark, cutting and lofting for her boundaries. She reached her half-century with a six over sweeper cover off Nat and then launched a stunning counterattack in the death overs.

Richa smashed three consecutive sixes off Amanjot Kaur in the 18th over, followed by two more maximums and a four off Kerr in the penultimate over, raising hopes of an improbable win. But she was eventually caught by Sanskriti Gupta off Amelia for a magnificent 90, as RCB's challenge resulted in another defeat for them.

Brief scores:

Mumbai Indians 199/4 in 20 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 100 not out, Hayley Matthews 56; Lauren Bell 2-21, Shreyanka Patil 1-34) beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru 184/9 in 20 overs (Richa Ghosh 90, Nadine de Klerk 28; Hayley Matthews 3-10, Shabnim Ismail 2-25) by 15 runs

- IANS