A lot of hope was placed on Royal Challengers Bangalore Women going into the first edition of the Women’s Premier League. In the men’s IPL tournament, it’s been 15 years and RCB have not yet lifted the trophy but there was a lot of expectations from the women’s side, who went into WPL 2023 with big names like Smriti Mandhana, Ellyse Perry, Sophie Devine, Richa Ghosh, and others.
But what followed was disastrous as RCB-W began their season with 5 consecutive losses. They made the bottom spot on the WPL 2023 points table their own and from there, there was no scope to qualify. They ended their WPL 2023 campaign with 2 wins in 8 games, with their last match being against MI-W yesterday, 21st March 2023. Here, we got to see skipper Smriti Mandhana in action with the ball…
Smriti Mandhana bowling in WPL 2023
It was all done and dusted for RCB-W as they were eliminated before their last game could begin. It was a day game and the first of two matches scheduled on the day. They put up a paltry total of 125/9 and MI Women cruised through, finishing the match in the 17th over of the chase. And with barely any runs left to be chased, skipper Mandhana decided to bring herself on to bowl.
She was the highest paid cricketer at the WPL 2023 Auction with a massive price tag of 3.4 Crore, with many of her teammates not even coming close to that contract value. However, it was a very forgettable season for her eventually, with only 149 runs in 8 games, a best score of 37, and a pathetic average of 18.62. A poor season was getting over and she decided to have some fun with the ball.
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Even her teammates started giggling as she rolled her arm over and a rank long hop on the first ball saw Amelia Kerr dispatch her to the boundary. A unique bowling action resembling Virat Kohli who is also number #18 on the jersey, she followed that up with two dot balls. Once again, she dropped one short and this time, it was wided and ran to the boundary, allowing MI to complete their win in 16.2 overs.
While Mandhana surely had fun in those few balls bowled, her bowling stats ended as bad as her batting numbers for the season, ending with 0/9 in 0.3 overs and currently having a WPL career economy rate as high as 18.0. She had a laugh while bowling and in the post-match ceremony, she promised RCB fans that they’ll be back stronger next season. See the video of Smriti Mandhana bowling here:
#SmritiMandhana bowling@mandhana_smriti pic.twitter.com/SIxasyojlr
— Sk kajla 🇮🇳 (SuNiL KaJlA) (@Skkajla2) March 21, 2023
MI completed an easy 4-wicket win and moved on to the WPL 2023 playoffs. Only a few matches remain in the first edition of TATA WPL T20 and on 26th March 2023, a new winner will be crowned. A few days later, the action moves to IPL 2023 where 10 teams are ready to unleash themselves. For all similar cricket news from around the world, remember to stay tuned to ReadScoops.com…
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