WPL: Ecclestone's heroics lead UP Warriorz to Super Over victory
What's the story
In a thrilling Women's Premier League (WPL) match, Sophie Ecclestone led the UP Warriorz to a Super Over victory against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
The match was played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Ecclestone's brilliant 33 runs off 19 balls helped her team level the scores.
She then bowled a stunning Super Over leaving over 28,000 spectators in awe as RCB failed to score the required nine runs.
Game changer
Ecclestone's final over hitting forces Super Over
The match appeared to be RCB's until the last two overs of the regulation time.
However, Ecclestone's big hitting against Renuka Singh in the last over, which gave away 17 runs, took the game to a Super Over.
This shocking turn of events left the crowd speechless and paved the way for an even more thrilling finish.
Record breaker
Perry's performance and RCB's strong start
Despite an early setback in the form of Smriti Mandhana's dismissal, Ellyse Perry stepped up for RCB.
She welcomed Ecclestone with back-to-back fours and hit her first six off Thakor.
At the end of the power play, RCB had a solid foundation at 42 for 1.
Perry continued to shine through her innings, becoming the first player to cross the 200-run mark in each of the first three WPLs and surpassing Meg Lanning as the tournament's top run-scorer.
Key contributions
Wyatt-Hodge's maiden WPL half-century and Perry's unbeaten 90
Danni Wyatt-Hodge played a crucial role in RCB's total, displaying her array of shots by hitting three back-to-back fours in the 13th over.
She also scored her maiden WPL half-century off 36 balls against the franchise that had traded her.
However, her wicket brought two more for Warriorz- that of Ghosh and Kanika Ahuja.
Despite this, Perry stayed unfazed and remained unbeaten on 90 off 56 balls, with RCB scoring a whopping 105 runs in the last nine overs.
Turnaround
UP Warriorz's early struggles and Ecclestone's miracle
The Warriorz struggled early on with Kiran Navgire and Vrinda Dinesh falling for 24 and 14 runs respectively.
An injury to Shreyanka Patil saw Sneh Rana called up as a replacement, who struck twice in two overs, putting the Warriorz on the back foot.
However, at a crucial juncture when the team needed a miracle, Ecclestone stepped up to deliver an extraordinary performance that turned the game around.