The Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 saw the Gujarat Giants Women (GG-W) win their first match, defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore Women (RCB-W) by 19 runs in Match 13 on Wednesday, March 6 at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Gujarat chose to bat first and, thanks to huge blows from Laura Wolvaardt (76 off 45) and Beth Mooney (85 off 51), amassed a magnificent score of 199/5 in the 20 overs permitted. After each batted 140 off 78 balls, they engaged in a tremendous opening stand.
Georgia Wareham top-scored with 48 (22) as RCB was unable to reach 180/8 in their allotted 20 overs in response. With Smriti Mandhana (24 off 16) and Sabbhineni Meghana (4 off 13) adding 31 runs for the first wicket off 25 balls, their pursuit was off to a respectable start.
Nevertheless, Meghana struggled to get going and was engaged in a run-out while Ashleigh Gardner (2/23) took action and successfully removed Mandhana in the fifth over. With a 34-run partnership off 23 balls, Ellyse Perry (24 off 23) and Sophie Devine (23 off 16) attempted to steady the innings but were unable to meet the needed run rate.
After being dismissed, Richa Ghosh (30 off 21) and Georgia Wareham (48 off 22) gave it their all to try and win the game for their team, but they were far too late. Consequently, RCB dropped the game by 19 runs but kept their second-place ranking in the standings.
Following the match, the two captains and the Player of the Match said the following:
Smriti Mandhana, the losing captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore Women, stated:
We definitely had a chat about them (Giants), they have world class players in their team. Feel 200 was chaseable, we probably should have had better partnerships but in the end they played well. They started off really well. They were scoring at a good run-rate but I felt like we pulled it back really well in the last 3-4 overs. We thought they might get to 220-230 but we pulled it back really well. It’s just about playing good cricket, it’s not about batting first or second.
Of course, I think teams batting first have won the last three games. If you can get a good total, around 190 plus and you’re in the game, especially if you can take some early wickets. Really pleased with Wareham, thought we might lose by a bigger margin but her knock was amazing. We’ll learn from our mistakes today, we’ll understand the conditions better, this was our first match here.
Winning Captain and Player of the Match, Beth Mooney, Gujarat Giants Women, said:
Was a bit too close at the end for my liking, my heart rate was a little high. But yeah, stoked to get on the board. Everyone responded really well. There were a few eyebrows raised when we chose to bat. But Mike and I had a chat and wanted to get ahead of the game. Laura batted the house down. She was amazing tonight, took a lot of pressure off me. She’s a beautiful batter when she gets going. Not as good as Laura (talking about herself), just happy to finally contribute. Been a tough season so far. Absolutely pumped for the girls. Ash bowled beautifully, TK got hit a bit but came back and bowled well.
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