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In a season that began with high expectations and a sweeping team change, UP Warriorz by 2026 Women’s Premier League (WPL) She has reached the brink of a disappointing farewell. The 18th match of the tournament, which took place at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara on Thursday, came as a sobering confirmation of their struggles. a skilled Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Facing the women’s team, the Warriorz suffered a crushing eight-wicket defeat, confirming a direct entry into the final for RCB, while UPW remain at the bottom of the points table.

UP Warriorz’ disappointing run continues against RCB in WPL 2026

The match in Vadodara was a microcosm of the Warriorz’s entire campaign. captain meg lanning (41) and Deepti Sharma Despite a promising start with a 74-run partnership between (55)—their first 50-plus partnership of the season—the team fell from a position of strength. Lanning’s Nadine de Klerk After the dismissal, the middle order collapsed, with the fall of wickets becoming a recurring nightmare for the franchise this year. They eventually struggled to reach an average score of 143/8.

The defense was equally weak. of rcb grace harrisplaying to prove a point against her former teammates, demolished the UPW attack with a quickfire 75 off 37 balls. Smriti Mandhana With 54 not out, RCB chased the target in just 13.1 overs. The “muted non-celebration” at the fall of Harris’ wicket at the end of the game spoke volumes; The loss was already done, and the Warriorz knew their playoff dreams were mathematically ending.

Meg Lanning reveals key factors behind UP Warriorz’s early exit from WPL 2026

After the match, a composed but clearly disappointed Lanning spoke candidly about the factors that led to his season being derailed. Due to the lack of consistency, Lanning explained that while the team “glimpses of talent“Showed up, they failed to maintain the momentum.”Every time we get some momentum with the bat and build a partnership, we lose it and then a few wickets fall in bunches.,” Lanning said in the post-match press conference. The inability to “finish off” games has proven fatal in this tournament, where the margins for error are very slim.

Lanning also mentioned the elephant in the room: the overall restructuring of the team. only uncapped batsman Shweta Sehrawat After maintaining the Abhishek Nair As a full-time head coach for the first time. While Lanning denied using this reorganization as an excuse, he acknowledged the difficulty of reconciling in a short period of time.

He said, “Coming together after the mega auction is always a challenge for every team… you have to try to bring it together as much as possible।”

Ultimately, the Warriorz’s 2026 campaign—marked with five losses in seven matches—highlights the difficulties of developing a new unit. Sophie Ecclestone Despite Deepti’s world-class spin and individual talent, the lack of a cohesive killer instinct left them behind the teams running at the top of the league.