How Smriti Mandhana's RCB Got Knocked Out Of WPL 2023 After UP Warriorz Win Over Gujarat Giants? - Explained

Zee News

UP Warriorz (UPW) have made it to the playoffs of the 2023 Women's Premier League (WPL) as the third and final team to do so. The team, led by Alyssa Healy, secured their place in the next round by defeating Gujarat Giants (GGT) in a last-over thriller. This win also knocked Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) out of the competition.

Points Table of WPL 2023 now. pic.twitter.com/Yqn9rxetKZ

— Jaya Suriyan (@ImSurya05) March 19, 2023

UPW's victory against GGT was their fourth win in the competition, which gave them eight points on the board. On the other hand, RCB had four points on the board with only one match left, which means they could not reach the next round as the maximum they could finish with is six points. Smriti Mandhana-led outfit RCB faced Mumbai Indians (MI) in their last league game.

Although the line-up for the playoffs is now decided, the order in which the three teams finish is yet to be seen. MI currently leads the table, but a win for the Delhi Capitals (DC) against the Harmanpreet Kaur-led outfit later that night will tie them on the table. In that case, both UPW and DC can take the top spot, depending on the result of their match tomorrow, if MI are also defeated by RCB in the first match on Tuesday.

RCB had a poor start to their campaign, losing each of their first five games. Although they recovered with two wins in a row in their last two games against UPW and GGT, it proved to be too little, too late.

Sophie Devine scored the tournament's highest individual score of 99 runs in just 36 balls during RCB's win over GGT on Saturday (March 18). However, RCB's effort was not enough to make it to the playoffs.

The playoffs will begin with the second and third teams playing an eliminator on Friday (March 24). The winner of the eliminator will face the table toppers in the summit clash on Sunday (March 26).