UP Warriorz have lost both of their matches in WPL 2026.
Smriti Mandhana, RCB captain, had won the toss and chose to bowl first. Openers Meg Lanning and Harleen Deol struggled to get going in the powerplay overs, scoring 14 in 21 balls and 11 in 14 balls, respectively. UPW managed to score 143/5, thanks mainly to 45* by Deepti Sharma and 40* by Deandra Dottin.
RCB’s response in the chase was fierce, as Grace Harris hammered 85 in 40 balls with 10 fours and 5 sixes, and Mandhana hammered 47* in 32 balls, as RCB won by nine wickets and 47 balls to spare.
UP Warriorz Women's head coach Abhishek Nayar said on Monday that sending Harleen Deol to begin the batting in the WPL match against RCB was a "wrong decision," for which he accepts full responsibility.
According to Nayar, the goal of sending Harleen to open was to have a solid and technically strong batter at the top while the ball was moving, while saving some power hitters for later in the innings.
“Part of the thought process was that we felt with the moving ball, Harleen could add a bit of value in the power play. She is obviously technically correct. It didn’t work out today. I felt it turned out to be a wrong decision, and I take complete responsibility for it,” Nayar said at the post-match press conference on Monday.
“I think the thought process behind that was having that solidity and then hopefully having that power later on as the pitch gets better because we anticipated a bit of swing initially. I thought the matchup with Kiran Navgire in the middle would work, but it didn’t, so we looked foolish,” he added.
The UP Warriorz have lost both of their matches in the WPL 2026 so far and will face the winless Delhi Capitals in Navi Mumbai on January 14.
(PTI inputs)