GG vs RCB: The wait is over for Gujarat Giants. They have opened their account in WPL 2024 after five matches. Captain Beth Mooney was the star with 51-ball 85 while Laura Wolvaardt slammed 76 as GG beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 19 runs to deny them top spot.
After a comeback with the ball in the last seven overs, RCB seemed confident in chasing down 200-run target. But they were off to a poor start. With Katherine Bryce swinging it in, Sabbhineni Meghana and Smirti Mandhana found going difficult.
Meghana never looked confident against Bryce and Gardner as she only managed 4 runs off 13 balls before she was run out by Laura Wolvaardt.
With the pressure to score on Smriti Mandhana, she did attack with 16-ball 24 but was trapped leg-before in the 5th over by Gardner.
RCB kept hopes alive with Sophie Devine & Ellyse Perry adding 34 runs off 23 balls. But that did not last long as Perry perished to Sophie Devine.
Richa Ghosh provided some flair with a blazing 21-ball 30-run knock. But she too could not finish the job.
However, RCB still kept their hopes high wit Georgia Wareham slamming 48 off 22 balls. But with Wareham run-out in the 19th over, RCB failed to finish the job, managing 180/7.
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Gujarat Giants innings
Beth Mooney’s decision to bat first did not seem a great strategy. But she proved the doubters wrong with a sublime show. Partnering Laura Wolvaardt, the two asserted dominance on RCB bowling attack that looked timid.
Wolvaardt was the early aggressor Gujarat took the score to 59/0 in the powerplay. Shortly after that Wolvaardt brought her half-century as GG looked on course to post a total somewhere close to 250. Mooney too brought her half-century in 13th over.
But that’s where Gujarat Giants lost the plot. After a record 140-run stand (second highest in WPL history) Wolvaardt was run-out for 45-ball 76 with the scores reading 140/1. And that opened the flood gates.
From 140/0 in 12.5 overs, Gujarat Giants could only score 59/5 in the remaining seven overs. Beth Mooney tried to hold the innings together with sublime 51-ball 85. But with Phoebe Litchfield perishing to another run-out, this time to save Beth Mooney, GG was on the backfoot.
Ashleigh Gardener (0), Dayalan Hemalatha (1), and Veda Krishnamurthy (1) had no role to play at all. In the end, Mooney with the help of 12 fours and a six helped GG post 199/5 in 20 overs.
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