MUMBAI: Former India cricketer Reema Malhotra showered praise on UP Warriorz captain Alyssa Healy for playing a captain's knock in her side's ten-wicket thrashing of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Women's Premier League (WPL) on Friday.
Alyssa struck an unbeaten 96 runs off 47 balls, including 18 fours and a six, which is also the highest score by any batter in the competition. Her opening partner Devika Vaidya contributed 36 runs off 31 balls, including five fours, as the Warriorz chased down the 139-run target in merely 13 overs, handing Bangalore their fourth straight loss of the tournament.
"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," said Reema, a WPL expert for Sports18 and Jio Cinema, after the match ended.
Alyssa, the talismanic wicketkeeper-batter from Australia, was all praise for the Warriorz bowling attack, where Deepti Sharma and Sophie Ecclestone took a combined seven wickets to bowl out Bangalore for 138 in 19.3 overs.
"I was really pleased with our bowlers tonight. At the start of the match, we thought we'd keep them under 200 because that seems to be what every team is getting here. Full credit to the spinners."
"I thought they were outstanding and just held their nerve and took wickets at crucial times. To keep a batting unit like that to under a score of 140 was a serious effort and it gave us the confidence to go out there and have some fun."