WPL: Gardner stars for Giants as RCB suffer third successive loss

Ashleigh Gardner led from the front with a blazing 58 off 31 balls as bottom-placed Gujarat Giants snapped their losing streak with a dominant six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the WPL here on Thursday.

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Opting to bowl, GG put on a disciplined bowling display, with Deandra Dottin (2/31) and Tanuja Kanwar (2/16) restricting RCB to a below-par 125/7. Gardner also chipped in with 1/22 in a tidy spell, while Kashvee Gautam (1/17) provided solid support.

GG took just 16.3 overs to seal victory, with Gardner smashing three sixes and six fours in her third fifty of the tournament. She raced to her half-century in just 28 balls, bringing it up in style with back-to-back sixes.

GG’s top-order faltered, with Beth Mooney (17), Dayalan Hemalatha (11) and Harleen Deol (5) falling cheaply, but Gardner took charge. She broke free in Prema Rawat’s over, plundering 19 runs. There was no stopping GG from there as they cruised to their second win of the season, their last coming against UP Warriorz in Vadodara.

“Over the last couple of games we didn’t bat the way we wanted to. Credit to the bowlers tonight, particularly TK (Kanwar) and Kashvee. Chasing a low total also gives you the freedom to play your shots and be positive,” said Gardner, who was named the Player of the Match. “We lost three and it’s hard to come back from that. Pleased to see how the batters went about their job. We’re trying to reset and our bowlers are doing a fantastic job and we want to keep putting up wins on the board,” she added.

For Smriti Mandhana’s RCB, it was their third successive loss. “The first two games we still played well but ended up losing. Today’s loss will really hurt us because we struggled in all three departments,” Mandhana said.

Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 125/7 (Ahuja 33, Bist 22; Kanwar 2/16, Dottin 2/31); Gujarat Giants: 126/4 (Gardner 58, Litchfield 30*; Renuka 2/24)