WPL: All Grace as RCB thrash UPW by 9 wickets

It is not often that you get to witness Smriti Mandhana play second fiddle at the crease. But on Monday, the India opener took the back seat and watched her Royal Challengers Bengaluru teammate Grace Harris thrash UP Warriorz bowlers all around the park with her power and timing in Navi Mumbai. The Australian’s 40-ball 85 powered RCB to a second straight victory as they claimed a nine-wicket win with 47 balls to spare in the Women’s Premier League (WPL).Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Chasing 144, Harris was in the zone right from the outset. The opener, who started her innings with a straight drive for four off the first ball of Deepti Sharma, continued her onslaught to decimate the UPW bowlers. The right-hander smashed three fours off Kranti Gaud in the fourth over to make her intentions clear.That was just a glimpse of what followed next as she tore into West Indies’ Deandra Dottin. Harris, who completed her half-century in 22 balls, smashed three sixes and three fours to take RCB to 78/0 in the powerplay scoring 32 runs in the eight-ball over.Earlier, the RCB bowlers came up with a disciplined effort and reduced UPW to 50/5 in 8.2 overs. But allrounders Deepti Sharma (45*) and Dottin (40*) fought back with an unbeaten 93-run sixth-wicket stand to take their team to 143/5.SCORES: UPW 143/5 (D Sharma 45*, D Dottin 40*; de Klerk 2-28, S Patil 2-50) lost to RCB 145/1 in 12.1 overs (G Harris 85, S Mandhana 47*).