WPL 2024, Match 13: Gujarat Giants Women vs Royal Challengers Bangalore Women, 13th Match - Who Said What?

Gujarat Giants Women (GG-W) registered their first win of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 as they beat Royal Challengers Bangalore Women (RCB-W) by 19 runs in Match 13 on Wednesday, March 6 at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. After opting to bat first, Gujarat posted a massive score of 199/5 in their allotted 20 overs riding on massive knocks from Laura Wolvaardt (76 off 45) and Beth Mooney (85 off 51). The duo got involved in a massive opening stand off  140 off 78 balls.

In reply, RCB could only reach 180/8 in their allotted 20 overs with Georgia Wareham top-scoring with 48 (22). Their chase got off to a decent start as openers Smriti Mandhana (24 off 16) and Sabbhineni Meghana (4 off 13) added 31 runs for the first wicket off 25 balls.

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However, Ashleigh Gardner (2/23) got into action and got the big scalp of Mandhana in the fifth over while Meghana failed to get going and got involved in a run out. Ellyse Perry (24 off 23) and Sophie Devine (23 off 16) tried to stabilize the innings with their 34-run stand off 23 balls but failed to keep up with the required run rate.

Following their dismissals, Richa Ghosh (30 off 21) and Georgia Wareham (48 off 22) tried their best to take their team home but were left way too behind in the game. As a result, RCB lost the match by 19 runs but maintained their second spot on the points table.

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Here’s what the two captains and the Player of the Match said after the game:

Losing Captain, Smriti Mandhana, Royal Challengers Bangalore, said: 

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, 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.