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Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) all-rounder Heather Knight recently revealed that Virat Kohli met with the girls and motivated them before their game against UP Warriorz (UPW) on Wednesday, March 15.
Bangalore, who began their Women's Premier League (WPL) 2023 campaign with five straight defeats, registered their maiden win last night. They defeated the Warriorz by five wickets to secure their first points of the season.
The team looked charged up and motivated right from the onset, which was reflected in their performances.
Speaking during the first innings of the match, Knight stated that Kohli's pep-talk inspired the girls to give their all on the ground.
"Yeah, we just thought about being really positive. When you are under pressure and things aren't going well, it's easy to go inside your shelf," Knight said to the host broadcaster. "We want to be really aggressive, be really positive. We had a lovely chat with Virat Kohli this afternoon. Surprised us, came into the team room and just had a chat.
"He has so much experience in cricket and he talked about when the men's team lost six matches in a row and been in a very similar situation. It's now about trying to fight and trying to come out of our shackles and finish this on a high. He inspired the girls a little bit and we're certainly pumped to get the first one tonight."
With this victory, RCB have kept themselves alive in the competition. Although their chances of making it to the Eliminator look gloomy but mathematically speaking, Smriti Mandhana and Co. still have a chance to get through to the knockouts.
Kanika Ahuja stars as RCB register maiden win in WPL 2023
Royal Challengers Bangalore looked like a different side altogether on the field on Wednesday. They were aggressive and ready to put their bodies on the line, which was evident in their performances.
RCB were superb with the ball and restricted UP Warriorz to 135 runs, thanks to Ellyse Perry's three-wicket haul. Sophie Devine and Shobana Asha also chipped in with two wickets apiece.
In response, Bangalore were in a spot of bother, having lost their top four wickets for just 60 runs. However, Kanika Ahuja played a brilliant knock to take the Royal Challengers home with two overs to spare.
Ahuja and Richa Ghosh shared a 60-run partnership for the fifth wicket to take the team close to victory before Karnataka-born Shreyanka Patil hit the winning runs to give RCB their maiden win of the season.
Ahuja smashed a quickfire 46 off 30 balls, while Richa showed maturity during her unbeaten 32-ball 31-run knock to steer the team over the line.
