In a contest of opener-captains, Alyssa Healy beat Smriti Mandhana by a long distance and that was reflected in the result of Friday’s Women’s Premier League match as well, with UP Warriorz inflicting a crushing 10-wicket defeat on the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Brabourne Stadium.

Both Mandhana and Healy could not really do justice to their class as batters in the first three games for their respective sides. But on Friday, while Mandhana was out for 4 off 6 balls in the Royal Challengers’ total of 138, Healy cracked a scintillating 47-ball 96 as the Warriorz chased down the target in just 13 overs.

The result also meant that the Bangalore franchise remained winless after four games, while the Warriorz picked up their second victory.

Mandhana’s team elected to bat, but failed to put up a winning total, despite a decent start and Australia all-rounder Elysse Perry’s strong 39-ball 52. “I think in the last four games, it has been happening like that... We start well and we lose a cluster of wickets. I will take the blame as well. As a top-order batter, we need to put up runs on the board for the bowlers to defend,” Mandhana said after the game.

While the target was not steep, the Royal Challengers perhaps did not really expect Healy to make a mockery of the chase with her explosive batting. She smashed 18 fours and a six even as her opening partner, Devika Vaidya, remained unbeaten on 36 off 31 balls.

Healy’s 96 not out is the highest individual score in the tournament so far.

Earlier, Warriorz spinners Sophie Ecclestone and Deepti Sharma controlled the game with the ball, giving the Royal Challengers batters little breathing space even as they scalped wickets at regular intervals. While left-arm spinner Ecclestone finished with figures of 4/13, Deepti was not too far behind with 3/26.

Despite losing Mandhana early, the Royal Challengers scored 54 in their Powerplay overs, but lost the plot midway.

Rana faces first test

Calcutta: Sneh Rana will face her first test as captain of Gujarat Giants when they take on Delhi Capitals in a Women’s Premier League match at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Saturday.

Rana was appointed captain after Beth Mooney, the designated skipper, was ruled out of the tournament with an injury.

The Giants have managed only one win from three matches so far. The Capitals are on a better footing with two victories from three matches.

But what might give the Giants a bit of confidence going into the game is the fact that they had won their last game, against Royal Challengers Bangalore, while the Capitals had lost to Mumbai Indians in their last outing.

The Capitals, led by Australian Meg Lanning, depend heavily on their explosive batting line-up that has the likes of Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey and Jemimah Rodrigues. But they had flopped against Mumbai, being shot out for 105.

OUR BUREAU

Today’s matches

Gujarat Giants Women vs DC Women, 7.30pm, DY Patil, live on Sports18 1