Perry, Wareham's efforts in vain as 16-year-old seals WPL thriller

Australian superstar Ellyse Perry continued her blistering start to this year's Women's Premier League but her lone hand of 81 proved in vain as her Royal Challengers Bengaluru went down to Mumbai Indians.

Perry backed up her half-century in the tournament's opening match with a 43-ball blitz that included 11 fours and two sixes to singlehandedly power RCB to 7-167 from their 20 overs after being sent in on their home ground.

The Australian allrounder resurrected a top order collapse that left RCB reeling at 4-57 in the eighth over at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, but only wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh (28) offered any support after opener Smriti Mandhana's (26 off 13) fast start.

Perry was out off the penultimate ball of the innings trying to boost the total after hitting pacer Amanjot Kaur (3-22) for consecutive boundaries in the final over.

Kim Garth (2-30) got RCB's defence off to a fine start with a wicket in her first over, but breakthroughs proved tough to come by after that as Harmanpreet Kaur (50) and Nat Sciver-Brunt (42) built Mumbai's platform.

Australian leg-spinner Georgia Wareham (3-21) delivered a wicket-maiden to dismiss Amelia Kerr just prior to the halfway mark and then took consecutive wickets in the 18th over to swing the momentum and set up a tense finish.

Needing six off the final over to win, Mumbai's 16-year-old sensation G Kamalini held her nerve to hit the second last ball of the match for four to seal her side's second win of the season.

Garth said RCB's bowling unit did "quite well" to take the game into the 20th over after Mumbai reduced the required rate to under seven-and-half runs per over following the Powerplay.

"The game had a lot of ebbs and flows and (Wareham's over) swung the momentum in our favour," she said post-match.

"Credit to Mumbai, they finished the game really well, but it was really good to see Georgia Wareham bowl beautifully again."

On Perry's innings, Garth said "she is the GOAT for a reason, she just keeps churning out runs and the more pressure that's on, the better she seems to play".

RCB remain at the top of the WPL standings despite the loss after winning their opening two games, narrowly ahead of Mumbai on net run-rate.

Australians at WPL 2025

Delhi Capitals: Annabel Sutherland, Jess Jonassen, Meg Lanning

Gujarat Giants: Ashleigh Gardner, Beth Mooney, Phoebe Litchfield

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Ellyse Perry, Georgia Wareham, Kim Garth, Heather Graham

UP Warriorz: Grace Harris, Tahlia McGrath

WPL 2025 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 Delhi Capitals Women DEL	8	5	3	0	0	0.396	0	10
2 Mumbai Indians Women MI	8	5	3	0	0	0.192	0	10
3 Gujarat Giants GUJ	8	4	4	0	0	0.228	0	8
4 Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women RCB	8	3	5	0	0	-0.196	0	6
5 UP Warriorz UPW	8	3	5	0	0	-0.624	0	6

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points