Royal Challengers Bangalore’s search for a home victory this season continues as Gujarat Giants delivered an all-encompassing performance, spearheaded by Ashleigh Gardner, to inflict another defeat upon them. After starting the season strong with two wins, RCB has faltered in their home games, suffering two losses. They desperately needed a win on Thursday, February 27th to reverse their fortunes. However, a weak batting display led to their third consecutive loss.
In pursuit of a modest target of 126, Gujarat Giants began cautiously. Renuka Singh managed to extract some swing early in the innings, and D Hemalatha benefited from some fortunate runs. Renuka’s impressive spell was extended, and her persistence paid off when Hemalatha was stumped by Richa Ghosh. Renuka continued her dominance by dismissing the dangerous Beth Mooney in her fourth over.
Ashleigh Gardner then entered and immediately asserted herself, hitting her first ball for a boundary. With Renuka no longer bowling, RCB needed another bowler to apply pressure. However, Gardner capitalized on the bowling change, striking Prema Rawat for three fours and a six in quick succession. Despite Harleen Deol’s quick dismissal, RCB desperately needed another wicket, considering their low score.
By the time the next wicket fell, Gujarat Giants were well on their way to victory. A dropped catch by Ghosh in the 13th over proved costly, as Phoebe Litchfield capitalized with quick boundaries. Any hopes of a late RCB comeback were extinguished when Gardner smashed two consecutive sixes off Georgia Wareham to reach her half-century. Although Gardner was dismissed for 58, her teammates completed the chase in the following over.
Earlier, RCB had a disastrous powerplay after being asked to bat first. Danielle Wyatt-Hodge began with a boundary but was quickly dismissed leg-before-wicket. A major setback occurred in the second over when Ellyse Perry was caught out off a short ball, giving Gardner a wicket in her first over. Kashvee Gautam then applied pressure with tight overs, impacting Smriti Mandhana, who struggled to score. After scoring 10 runs off 19 balls, Mandhana was dismissed attempting a big shot.
At 26/3 after the powerplay, RCB urgently needed a partnership to recover. Raghvi Bist and Kanika Ahuja attacked Priya Mishra for 18 runs in an over, boosting the run rate. Ahuja looked particularly strong, hitting a six, and Bist also cleared the boundary in the following over. However, against the momentum, their partnership ended when Bist was run out after a dropped catch by Gardner.
RCB’s innings quickly collapsed as Ahuja was dismissed in the next over. At 78/5, a comeback was unlikely, especially after Ghosh failed to contribute significantly. RCB managed only one boundary in the final overs, finishing with 125 – an insufficient total to challenge Gujarat Giants, who won with 21 balls remaining.
Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 125/7 in 20 overs (Kanika Ahuja 33; Tanuja Kanwar 2/16, Deandra Dottin 2/31) lost to Gujarat Giants 126/4 in 16.3 overs (Ashleigh Gardner 58, Phoebe Litchfield 30*; Renuka Singh 2/24) by 6 wickets
