Gujarat Giants (GG) cruised previous a listless Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by six wickets in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium right here on Thursday.
RCB’s horror run at residence continued, with the aspect falling to a 3rd straight loss. GG (4 factors) recorded a primary win in three outings.
RCB’s woes started with a sub-par batting effort, solely managing 125 for seven. GG made gentle of the chase, driving on an attacking knock from captain Ashleigh Gardner (58, 31b, 6×4, 3×6). The Australian discovered an in a position ally in Phoebe Litchfield, who did her half with an unbeaten 30.
Gardner did her staff a favour by calling it proper at the toss, on a pitch which favours chasing.
RCB suffered a poor begin, with mainstays Smriti Mandhana (10), Danielle Wyatt (4) and Ellyse Perry (0) falling in the PowerPlay. The 27,500-odd crowd anticipated large issues from Smriti, however the southpaw was utterly out of kinds. After being overwhelmed repeatedly, Smriti tried to break the shackles with a slog sweep to spinner Tanuja Kanwar, however discovered the fielder at deep mid-wicket.
Perry, the type batter, dabbed an extended hop from Gardner to square-leg. RCB stumbled to 26 for 3 in six overs, and was pressured to play catch up.
Raghvi Bist (22, 19b, 1×4, 1×6) and Kanika Ahuja (33, 28b, 1×4, 2×6) did a minor restore job with a 48-run fourth-wicket stand. Raghvi was taken out by way of a comical sequence – a run-out effected after Gardner fumbled a sitter.
Kanika was despatched again in the subsequent over, with Tanuja taking a effective excessive catch off her personal bowling. Georgia Wareham (20 n.o.) ensured that RCB batted the full quota of overs, but it surely was not sufficient to cease the GG march.
The scores: RCB 125/7 in 20 overs (Kanika Ahuja 33) misplaced to Gujarat Giants 126/4 in 16.3 overs (Gardner 58, Litchfield 30 n.o). Toss:
GG. PoM: Gardner.
Published – February 27, 2025 11:15 pm IST
