A disciplined bowling show, led by Renuka Thakur's opening burst of 2-14, followed by skipper Smriti Mandhana's quickfire 43 in the chase helped RCB crush Gujarat Giants by 8 wickets at M Chinnaswamy stadium on Tuesday to make it two in two. Put in to bat first, Giants lost the plot early against some tight bowling from the home team. D Hemalatha's gusty 31* helped them to a modest 107/7 with Sophie Molineux picking up 2 for 25 in the middle overs. Mandhana kicked off the chase with a flurry of early boundaries, setting up the base for S Meghana (36*) to polish off the chase with 7.3 overs to spare.
Renuka strikes early
After a couple of early boundaries off Renuka Thakur, GG skipper Beth Mooney was bowled through the gate off one that jagged back into the batter sharply. Despite a three-boundary first over from Shreyanka Patil, giants could gather only 29 from their PowerPlay. RCB bowled out Renuka, and the decision was vindicated when she had Phoebe Litchfield stumped on the second ball after the powerplay.
Pressure induces more wickets
GG's progress remained slow and the pressure started to take its toll. Veda Krishnamurthy managed to open her account in WPL 2024 this time, even hit the first six of the night, and had two decisions overturned against her. But her innings lasted all of 15 balls before the Benglauru local holed out to deep midwicket. In the same over, Harleen Deol set off for a non-existent single, only to be run-out after a 31-ball 22. By the time they had their first 50 on the board, at the end of the 11th over, the Giants had lost their top-four.
Hemalatha takes GG to 107/7
D Hemalatha found a couple of lucky boundaries via edges to get going, but the downfall continued. The dangerous Ash Gardner departed after top-edging a Georgia Wareham delivery, beaten in flight. At the other end, Molieux struck in both her remaining overs, picking up her second in Kathryn Bryce, who was bowled, and third in the form of Sneh Rana, who was stumped after a handy 12 coming in at no. 8. Hemalatha did find her groove eventually, smoking a six into long-on stands off Molineux in the penultimate over that had Giants marching into triple figures.
Mandhana kicks off the chase in style
The crowd had steadily built up and before the home team was out to begin their chase, it attendance was around 80%. And Mandhana thanked them for the huge turnout with a stroke-filled 43 off just 27 balls. The RCB captain began with three boundaries in the first four balls off Lea Tahuhu and then added two more off Meghana Singh, the pull being her most productive shot. Ash Gardner struck with her very first ball, in the powerplay, to take out Sophie Devine but Mandhana transferred the pressure back on Giants in the very next over with a six over long-on ropes off the returning Tahuhu. She eventually chipped one back to Tanuja Kanwer to fall seven short of a fifty, not before all but sealing the game for the hosts.
Meghana carries forward the attack
Coming in at no. 3, Meghana wasted little time in getting going as she collected a couple of boundaries off Bryce before taking the attack to the spinners. She welcomed Rana into the attack with back to back fours, one on either side of the wicket, and then creamed one over wide long-off ropes off Kanwer for maximum runs. After Mandhana's departure, she had Ellyse Perry (23*) for company, who took RCB over the line halfway through the 13th over.
Brief scores: Gujarat Giants 107/7 in 20 overs (D Hemalatha 31*, Harleen dEol 21; Sophie Molineux 3-25, Renuka Thakur 2-14) lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore 110/2 in 12.3 overs (Smriti Mandhana 43, S Meghana 36*, Ellyse Perry 23*) by 8 wickets
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