Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Gujarat Giants by 32 runs and recorded their third straight victory in the Women’s Premier League in Navi Mumbai on Friday thanks to a century partnership between Radha Yadav and Richa Ghosh and an incredible five-wicket haul by off-spinner Shreyanka Patil.
After being asked to bat, Yadav (66 off 47 balls) and Ghosh (44 off 28) combined for 105 runs in 11 overs for the fifth wicket, leading RCB to a competitive 182 for 7. Patil ruled the roost with incredible figures of 5 for 23 as the Gujarat Giants were bowled out for 150 after losing wickets at regular intervals.
Beth Mooney (27) flicked Lauren Bell (3/29) for a boundary off the first ball to start GG’s chase. Sophie Devine was not to be left behind, blasting Linsey Smith for two boundaries in the subsequent over.
In order to keep GG moving forward, Mooney was at her best when she hit Bell for two consecutive fours off the last two balls of the over after smashing Bell over mid-off for a maximum.
In the following over, Devine was caught and bowled by Arundhati Reddy, giving RCB their first wicket. Patil then dismissed Mooney, who was trapped LBW, dealing GG a serious blow. Another blow to GG came when Richa Ghosh caught captain Ashleigh Gardner off Bell.
Before falling LBW to Patil, the next batter, Kanika Ahuja (16), displayed a willingness to battle with back-to-back fours. Georgia Wareham was the next to go as the scoreboard showed 70/5. Wickets continued to fall for GG at regular intervals. Bharti Fulmali (39 off 20 balls) top scored for GG but it was insufficient.
RCB got off to a quick start with Grace Harris hitting four boundaries off bowler Renuka Singh to score 23 runs in the opening over. However, right-arm pacer Kashvee Gautam ended Harris’ innings by using a flawless inswinger to trap the batter plumb in front of the wicket.
In her subsequent over, Gautam struck once more, dismissing D Hemalatha, who was caught by rookie Shivani Singh.
Smriti Mandhana, the captain of the RCB, was brilliantly caught by Rajeshwari Gayakwad with a diving forward effort in the fifth over, but Renuka recovered admirably after getting thrashed in the opening over.
RCB continued to lose wickets and collapsed to 43/4 in the sixth over with Gautami Naik falling leg before wicket to Devine (3/31). Radha Yadav then took aim at Australian leg-spinner Georgia Wareham, first hitting a crucial boundary over point and then hitting the ball over long-on for a maximum.
Yadav then joined Ghosh at the crease, playing carefully for an over before hammering Wareham for a maximum and a boundary off successive deliveries. Ghosh also stepped up pace with a few boundaries to keep RCB’s scoreboard moving, even if Yadav was the more aggressive of the two.
After being dropped by Gautam at deep mid-off in the thirteenth over, Ghosh made the most of his “life” by hitting Wareham over deep mid-wicket. Yadav reached her fifty off 36 balls by hitting a maximum off the last ball of the same over, while Ghosh sent a Sophie Devine delivery flying over the long-off boundary.
In the 16th over, the duo reached the 100-run partnership for the fifth wicket by scoring boundaries at will. Nadine de Klerk had a good 12-ball 26 towards the end.
