Ecclestone’s all-round heroics stun RCB and Chinnaswamy in super over win

Forty-two needed off 18, with two wickets in hand. Ecclestone had pottered to 3 off eight balls, and had no option but to go for broke, especially with Chinelle Henry, seemingly the last hope for Warriorz, gone.

Ecclestone got stuck into Georgia Wareham by muscling two sixes in a 13-run over. But when Saima Thakor was run out a ball after swinging one out of the ground in the 19th over, it was all on Ecclestone to knock off much of the 18 runs they needed off the last six.

She hit 17 in an extraordinary sequence of 6, 6, 4, 1, taking Renuka to the cleaners as she repeatedly missed her lengths. But Ecclestone’s single off the fifth ball that left Warriorz needing one off the last ball, brought rookie Kranti Goud on strike.

When Goud missed and the batters ran, Richa Ghosh did an MS Dhoni, choosing to sprint to the stumps and knock the bails off rather than risk an underarm throw. And just like that, the WPL had its first Super Over.

When Kim Garth bowled Henry, who had muscled an incredible eight sixes in her 23-ball 62 against Delhi Capitals, with a slower delivery with Warriorz needing 47 off 22, she wouldn’t have envisaged having to bowl the Super Over.

Yet, when she did, and conceded just 8 while dismissing Henry again, she wouldn’t have imagined finishing on the wrong side of the result. But, five minutes later, she watched in agony as Mandhana and Ghosh failed to find their hitting range on the face of some nerveless bowling from Ecclestone.

It was a performance straight out of fantasy for the world’s No. 1 T20I and ODI bowler, who had also quite extraordinarily just conceded six runs off the final over in RCB’s innings. Three of those deliveries were pinpoint yorkers that denied Ellyse Perry a final charge towards what would have been an extraordinary century.

Perry offset Mandhana’s early loss – against offspin for the 11th time in the WPL – by welcoming Ecclestone with back-to-back fours, her step-out to bisect cover and mid-off being the standout. Perry’s intent-laden approach brought her a first six when she launched Thakor down the ground. At 42 for 1 at the end of the powerplay, RCB had a base.

All through her innings, Perry was bubbling with flair. She became the first player to hit the 200-run mark in each of the first three WPLs. She also overtook Meg Lanning to become the highest run-getter in the tournament’s short history, during the course of a 94-run second-wicket stand with Danni Wyatt-Hodge.

The five-over period between seven and 11 brought RCB just 33, but the pair was able to flick the switch. Goud, who hustled Wyatt-Hodge with an excellent bumper early on, was picked away for three back-to-back fours in the 13th.

In doing so, Wyatt-Hodge exhibited her range of shots – a cut when offered width, a swat back past the bowler when it was dug in short, and a pummel over extra cover when the bowler went full. Wyatt-Hodge brought up her maiden WPL half-century off 36 balls against the side that had traded her out. But her dismissal brought Warriorz two more wickets – of Ghosh and Kanika Ahuja.

But Perry didn’t pass up an opportunity to go all out in the death overs. She took a liking for Deepti Sharma’s predictable lengths and bowling into the surface by picking her for a sequence of 4, 6, 4, 2 in the penultimate over – hitting the ball to different areas, from deep cover to long-on to deep midwicket.

Perry’s use of angles to try and get inside the line and sweep the bowlers off their lengths was particularly noteworthy. She finished unbeaten on 90 off 56, with RCB hitting 105 off the last nine overs.

With Chamari Athapaththu again on the bench, Warriorz needed some firepower up top, and when Kiran Navgire smashed a 27-ball 51 four nights ago against Capitals, it seemed like they had found an answer.

Navgire tantalised yet again, her uncomplicated stand-and-deliver mantra bringing her 24 off just 12 balls, as she swung at anything remotely in her zone before she was bowled attempting to hoick Renuka. Vrinda Dinesh’s run of low scores stretched into a fourth game as she picked out mid-off for 14 as Warriorz lost two early.

An injury to Shreyanka Patil opened up a spot for Sneh Rana as a replacement, and she inflicted more agony for Warriorz when she struck twice in two overs. This put Warriorz in freefall mode, even though Shweta Sehrawat sparked life into the innings with a sprightly 31. But at 125 for 7 in 15, only a freak Henry innings would have silenced the crowd. But when she chopped on to Garth in the 17th, Warriorz needed a miracle, and Ecclestone scripted one.

Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women 180 for 6 in 20 overs (Elysse Perry 90*, Danni Wyatt-Hodge 57; Chinell Henry 1-24, Deepti Sharma 1-42, Tahlia McGarth 1-30 ) tied with UP Warriorz Women 180 in 20 overs (Sophie Ecclestone 33, Kiran Navgire 24, Dinesh Vrinda 14, Deepti Sharma 25, Shweta Sehrawat 31, Uma Chetry 14, Saima Thakur 14; Sneh Rana 3-27, Renuka  Singh 2-38, Kim Garth 2-40, Ellyse Perry 1-10)
Super Over UP Warriorz 8/1  beat RCB 4/0

[Cricinfo]