Ash Gardner led Gujarat Giants to a facile win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
| Photo Credit: K. BHAGYA PRAKASH
Gujarat Giants (GG) cruised past a listless Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by six wickets in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Thursday.
RCB’s horror run at home continued, with the side falling to a third straight loss. GG (4 points) recorded a first win in three outings.
RCB’s woes began with a sub-par batting effort, only managing 125 for seven. GG made light of the chase, riding on an attacking knock from captain Ashleigh Gardner (58, 31b, 6×4, 3×6). The Australian found an able ally in Phoebe Litchfield, who did her part with an unbeaten 30.
Gardner did her team a favour by calling it right at the toss, on a pitch which favours chasing.
RCB suffered a poor start, with mainstays Smriti Mandhana (10), Danielle Wyatt (4) and Ellyse Perry (0) falling in the PowerPlay. The 27,500-odd crowd expected big things from Smriti, but the southpaw was completely out of sorts. After being beaten repeatedly, Smriti tried to break the shackles with a slog sweep to spinner Tanuja Kanwar, but found the fielder at deep mid-wicket.
Perry, the form batter, dabbed a long hop from Gardner to square-leg. RCB stumbled to 26 for three in six overs, and was forced to play catch up.
Raghvi Bist (22, 19b, 1×4, 1×6) and Kanika Ahuja (33, 28b, 1×4, 2×6) did a minor repair job with a 48-run fourth-wicket stand. Raghvi was taken out through a comical sequence – a run-out effected after Gardner fumbled a sitter.
Kanika was sent back in the next over, with Tanuja taking a fine high catch off her own bowling. Georgia Wareham (20 n.o.) ensured that RCB batted the full quota of overs, but it was not enough to stop the GG march.
The scores: RCB 125/7 in 20 overs (Kanika Ahuja 33) lost 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