'She showed us how to play a captain’s knock' - Reema Malhotra praises Alyssa Healy's knock against RCB

UP Warriorz inflicted more misery on struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore in their latest Women's Premier League 2023 (WPL) game on Friday (March 10). Sophie Ecclestone and Deepti Sharma shone with seven wickets combined to bowl out RCB for just 138 and then captain Alyssa Healy smashed an unbeaten 96 off 47 to thrash Smiri Mandhana-led team by 10 wickets.

The former Indian cricketer Reema Malhotra was all praises for the Australian wicketkeeper batter. She pointed out Healy's impressive shot selection and said that it was a brave decision to open an innings ahead of Shweta Sehrawat. 

“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 a 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 on Sports18 and Jio Cinema show.

Seema also shared her thoughts on RCB's heavy defeat at Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium and pointed out a few poor decisions by management. The RCB were in a comfortable position to score a big total but they collapsed from 73/1 to 138/10. 

Kanika Ahuja was sent ahead of Heather Knight, Erin Burns and Richa Ghosh but the decision cost the management. Reema said that the management should not have tinkered with the batting order and added that Knight should be promoted up the order.

“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. When the overs were dwindling, they should’ve capitalized on the form of their players. Heather Knight has been playing for England at No. 4 (she batted at No. 5 on Friday). For me, I wonder why they elected to send the batting order that they did,” Reema added.

A defeat keepts Royal Challengers Bangalore at the bottom of the WPL points table with three losses while UP Warriorz remain in the thrid position with two wins in their opening three matches in WPL 2023.