Royal Challengers Bangalore lost to Gujarat Giants by 11 runs at the Brabourne Stadium in WPL.
RCB WPL 2023 News: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) suffered their third defeat in a row but skipper Smriti Mandhana is happy with the performance of the home players against Gujarat Giants in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) on Wednesday. RCB suffered an 11-run defeat at the Brabourne Stadium.
After brilliant half-centuries from Sophia Dunkley (65) and Harleen Deol (67) Gujarat Giants posted a solid 201/7 batting first, their bowlers did a fine job, restricting RCB to 190/6 in their 20 overs .
RCB opener and New Zealand batsman Sophie Devine played a blistering 66 off 45 balls with the help of eight fours and two sixes. Towards the end, Heather Knight (30 not out off 11 balls) provided RCB with a glimmer of hope, but the challenge of scoring 33 runs in the last two overs and 24 in the final over proved too much for the Bangalore team.
He said, ‘In our bowling, we gave 10-15 runs more than the par. Really proud of the way the girls batted. It’s a good outfield – one end is really short. It went into the minds of some of our bowlers. It is about being hard on yourself,” Mandhana said after the game.
While the overseas stars showed what they are capable of, Shreyanka Patil and Kanika Ahuja’s approach also impressed the Indian vice-captain. “The way Shreyanka bowled and batted. Also the way Kanika showed her approach.
“They are both positive from our home setup,” Mandhana said. Patil took two wickets and hit a brilliant six and a four with the bat in the last over.
Ahuja, who came out to bat after Devine’s dismissal, also kept RCB in the hunt and provided full support to Knight before being dismissed by Ashley Gardner. Meanwhile, this was Gujarat Giants’ first win in the WPL.
“Amazing, incredible, fantastic effort by the girls, very proud of them. It’s never easy defending here at CCI, it’s always high scoring but we stayed committed to the game. I think we have a good balance, we have a good combination.
“It’s something we’ve been looking for since the first game, but now that we’ve got our first points, we’re very happy.” RCB will next take on UP Warriors on Friday while Gujarat Giants will face Delhi Capitals the next day.