WPL 2023: Alyssa Healy showed how to play captain's knock, says Reema Malhotra

UP Warriorz captain Alyssa Healy led from the front to demolish Royal Challengers Bangalore in the WPL match on Friday (March 10).

The Royal Challengers Bangalore slumped to their fourth consecutive defeat in the WPL as the UP Warriorz breezed past them by 10 wickets at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.

And UP Warriorz's captain Alyssa Healy struck 96 runs (47balls, 18x4, 1x6) in a dominating display of batting as they chased down the total of 139 runs within 13 overs.

And after her blistering knock, former India women cricketer and WPL pundit Reema Malhotra heaped praises on Alyssa Healy.

"Her first two matches were disappointing but today we saw a noticeable improvement. Instead of Shweta (Sehrawat), she came out to bat with Devika Vaidya and made her life easier. She played openly and had great shot selection. She plays with strength but when to use that strength is something Healy showed you today. She also showed us how to play a captain's knock and how to earn a strong win," Reema said after UP Warriorz's thumping victory.

RCB, who are dealing with skipper Smriti Mandhana's (4 runs) loss of form lost their last seven wickets for only 40 runs. Veda Krishnamurthy, a WPL expert for Sports18 and JioCinema, was critical of the strategy used by the Bangalore-based franchise.

She said, "When you have Heather Knight, Erin Burns, and Richa Ghosh in the middle order already, they sent Kanika Ahuja and Shreyanka Patil in an attempt to split them. Heather Knight has been playing for England at No. 4. For me, I wonder why they elected to send the batting order that they did."

Healy, who recently won the Women's T20 World Cup in Australia, has made a superb start with UP Warriorz as the WPL franchise sit 3rd in the WPL table. They will taken on league leaders Mumbai Indians on Sunday in their upcoming WPL match.

(with inputs fro agency)