RCB make it quick for Giants
Bengaluru, February 27
Captain Smriti Mandhana’s blitz and a disciplined effort by the bowlers powered Royal Challengers Bangalore to a comprehensive eight-wicket win over a sloppy Gujarat Giants in their Women’s Premier League match here today.
Very happy, bowled such a spell after a long time, especially after injury. I have been doing a lot of hard work. Renuka Singh, Player of the match
Lots of work has been done to get the right combination. This is just the start, we need to keep doing things right. Smriti Mandhana, RCB Captain
I don’t believe in form in this format. If we start scoring runs in the next two, we will forget about the first two. Beth Mooney, GG captain
Mandhana (43 off 27 balls) and Sabbhineni Meghana (36 off 28 balls) added 40 runs for the second wicket as RCB made light work of a 108-run target. RCB finished the task in a mere 12.3 overs for their second win on the bounce.
They just had to build on the strong foundation laid by the RCB bowlers, who restricted Giants to 107/7. Pacer Renuka Singh (2/14) and left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux (3/25) did the star turn for the home side after they opted to bowl.
There was a certain tackiness to the pitch, but the RCB bowlers also hit the right length to keep the Giants’ batters on a tight leash.
The dismissal of Giants’ skipper Beth Mooney (8) was a perfect example. Mooney had struck Renuka for two boundaries earlier, and she immediately changed the line coming around the wicket. She was rewarded with the big wicket when Mooney failed to tackle a delivery that shaped in to beat her defensive prod. Renuka soon got Phoebe Litchfield.
“Very happy, bowled such a spell after a long time, especially after injury,” Player of the Match Renuka said.
From that point on, Giants kept on losing wickets, including Ashleigh Gardner.
Brief scores: Gujarat Giants: 107/7 in 20 overs (Hemalatha 31, Harleen 22; Molineux 3/25, Renuka 2/14); Royal Challengers Bangalore: 110/2 in 12.3 overs (Mandhana 43, Meghana 36*, Perry 23*; Gardner 1/15, Kanwar 1/20).
