Smriti Mandhana's woeful run continues as RCB skipper gets cleaned up for a duck vs UPW in WPL 2023

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Smriti Mandhana continues to have a poor run in the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2023 as she was dismissed for a duck in Match 13 against the UP Warriorz (UPW) at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

The southpaw has had issues against off-spinners throughout the tournament and the story continued against UPW spinner Deepti Sharma. Deepti decided not to give Mandhana any room by coming over the wicket and bowling stump-to-stump.

Smriti Mandhana felt the urgency to get off the mark and went for a slog sweep against the spin. She missed the ball completely as it crashed into her stumps. Deepti Sharma was understandably ecstatic, while a distraught Mandhana realized that the shot wasn't on.

Click here for a video of Mandhana's dismissal.

RCB finally open their account in the points tally with a win

Despite a valiant rearguard action from Grace Harris, the target of 136 didn't really look daunting enough. Sophie Devine smashed 14 runs off the first five balls of RCB's chase to give them a flying start.

But just then, the one problem that has hurt Bangalore enough in this tournament enough has been the lack of game awareness and that almost cost them once again. Devine threw away her wicket off the final ball of the first over and Smriti Mandhana soon followed suit.

The required rate was never a huge issue, but UPW kept on chipping away with wickets at crucial junctures. But just when it looked like RCB could succumb under pressure, Kanika Ahuja stepped up and played an incredible knock of 46 (30). Her 60-run partnership with Richa Ghosh ensured that UPW didn't make a serious comeback in the game.

The Royal Challengers are still mathematically alive in the competition but will definitely need to depend on a few other results and ensure that they win all their remaining games.