Smriti Mandhana's Royal Challengers Bangalore came out victorious against Gujarat Giants on Tuesday after defeating them by eight wickets in the Women's Premier League 2024 group-stage fixture. This win marks RCB's back-to-back victories in their first two matches of this season. (As It Happened | Full Coverage | Schedule And Points Table)
Chasing the mere target of 108 runs, RCB achieved the target in 12.3 overs with eight wickets in hand after captain Smriti Mandhana provided a flying start. Mandhana smashed three boundaries in the first over of Lea Tahuhu and set the tone for the chase. She made 43 runs in 27 balls with eight fours and one six.
Sabbhineni Meghana (36 not out off 28 balls) continued her good form and played with an attacking mindset. She remained unbeaten along with Ellyse Perry and took the team past the line. Perry hit the winning boundary off Sneh Rana and won the match with 45 balls remaining.
Earlier, Mandhana invited Beth Mooney & Co. to bat first after winning the toss. Giants changed their batting order and Harleen Deol was sent to open the batting with the skipper.
Renuka Thakur Singh provided the first breakthrough after dismissing Giants captain Beth Mooney in the third over. Mooney had hit her for two boundaries before which forced her to come from around the wicket. Mooney failed to tackle her inswinging delivery that destroyed the timbers.
Renuka soon ousted Phoebe Litchfield too when the Aussie batter failed to drag her feet back inside the crease before Richa Ghosh, standing up, completed her stumping. She bowled her full quota of four overs on the trot and returned with handsome numbers of 4-0-14-2. She was awarded the Player of the Match for her performance.
The other opener Harleen Deol (22 off 31 balls) kept holding one end but she played more dot balls which eventually increased the pressure on the other batters. Dayalan Hemalatha, coming at number six, played a sensible knock (31 not out off 25 balls) and added crucial runs with the tail.
Sophie Molineux bagged three wickets and conceded just 25 runs in her four-over quota. Sophie Devine and Asha Sobhana remained wicketless but bowled economic spells which helped in restricting Gujarat Giants to mere 107 runs in 20 overs.
Gujarat Giants are yet to win a match this season whereas RCB have won the first two matches comfortably. A big win on Tuesday took RCB to the top of the points table. Mumbai Indians also have four points with two wins in as many matches but RCB have a better net run rate. Giants are at the bottom of the table.
Bangalore will face Meg Lanning's Delhi Capitals on Thursday whereas Giants will take on UP Warriorz on Friday at the same venue.
