New season, but the same, old batting woes haunt the Gujarat Giants as RCB turns it around with back-to-back wins.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore led by skipper Smriti Mandhana edged past UP Warriorz by 2 runs to claim their first points on the board, starting their campaign on a good note in the 2nd edition, unlike their start in the Inaugural edition of the tournament. Gujarat Giants, on the other hand, had a disappointing start much like their campaign in the Inaugural edition with a five-wicket defeat against the defending champions, Mumbai Indians.
The head-to-head record between both these sides stands at 1-1 in their previous meeting in the inaugural edition of the WPL. The Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Smriti Mandhana won the toss and opted to field first. After being inserted to bat first, the Giants got off to a poor start, losing the wicket of their skipper Beth Mooney in the 3rd over of the innings. Renuka Singh provided a massive breakthrough for RCB.
Phoebe Litchfield joined Harleen Deol at the crease and the duo stitched a 19-run partnership for the 2nd wicket before Renuka Singh ended Phoebe Litchfield’s struggle at the crease. Veda Krishnamurthy joined Harleen Deol at the crease and the duo stitched a 15-run partnership for the 3rd wicket before Sophie Molineux picked up the wicket of Veda Krishnamurthy to provide the 3rd breakthrough for her side.
Harleen Deol soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 4th breakthrough for RCB. She failed to accelerate as she kept losing partners at the other end after being promoted to open the innings alongside skipper Beth Mooney. Dayalan Hemalatha joined Ashleigh Gardner at the crease and the duo stitched a 20-run partnership for the 5th wicket before the leg-spinner Georgia Wareham picked up the big wicket of Ashleigh Gardner to push the Gujarat Giants in deep trouble.
The Gujarat Giants ended up with a total of 107/7 in their quota of overs. The 25-run partnership for the 8th wicket between Sneh Rana and Dayalan Hemalatha propelled them over the 100-run mark. Dayalan Hemalatha (31 off 25 balls), Harleen Deol (22 off 31 balls), and Sneh Rana (12 off 10 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Gujarat Giants. Sophie Molineux (4-0-25-3), and Renuka Singh (4-0-14-2) were the top performers with the ball for RCB.
Chasing a target of 108, the Royal Challengers Bangalore openers got off to a flying start, scoring 10 runs an over before Ashleigh Gardner picked up the wicket of Sophie Devine to provide the 1st breakthrough for the Gujarat Giants. Sabbhineni Meghana joined skipper Smriti Mandhana at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 40-run partnership for the 2nd wicket before the left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwar picked up the big wicket of the opposition skipper Smriti Mandhana to provide the 2nd breakthrough for the Gujarat Giants.
Ellyse Perry joined Sabbhineni Meghana at the crease and the duo saw their side over the line with a 38-run partnership. Skipper Smriti Mandhana (43 off 27 balls), Sabbhineni Meghana (36 off 28 balls), and Ellyse Perry (23 off 14 balls) were the top performers with the bat for RCB. Ashleigh Gardner (3-0-15-1) and Tanuja Kanwer (2-0-20-1) were the top performers with the ball for the Gujarat Giants.
Renuka Singh was awarded the Player of the Match for her brilliant spell with the ball in the powerplay to push the Gujarat Giants on the backfoot early on in the innings. She accounted for the wickets of skipper Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield.