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Gardner powers Gujarat to WPL win over RCB

football27 February 2025 18:07| © MWP
By:Ross Roche
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Gujarat Giants captain Ash Gardner continued her fantastic Women’s Premier League form as she helped her team clinch their second win of the tournament at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday night.

It was an all-round effort from the skipper that saw her deservedly named player of the match as she picked up 1-22 with the ball in her four overs, and then slammed 58 off 31 balls (6x4; 3x6) with the bat to power her side to a dominant six-wicket win over defending champs Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

“Over the last couple of games we didn't bat the way wanted to. Credit to the bowlers tonight, particularly TK (Tanuja Kanwar) and Kashvee (Gautam),” said a delighted Gardner after the match.

“Chasing a low total also gives you the freedom to play your shots and be positive. It's really nice, that first game we should have won (against RCB). But that's cricket, people can outplay you. Today we quietened the crowd, which people want to do here.”

Gujarat won the toss and chose to bowl first and their decision was vindicated after they restricted the hosts to a well below par 127-7 in their 20 overs.

Kanwar, 2-16, and Deandra Dottin, 2-31, were the key wicket takers, while Gautam, 1-17, and Gardner helped throttle the RCB batters during their innings.

It was a disastrous start for the hosts as Dottin had opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge (4) trapped LBW in the first over, Gardner picked up the prized scalp of Ellyse Perry for a duck in the second and Kanwar had captain Smriti Mandhana (10) caught by Harleen Deol in the sixth leaving them wobbling on 25-3.

Raghvi Bist, 22 off 19 (1x4; 1x6), and Kanika Ahuja, 33 off 28 (1x4; 2x6), then combined for the innings' biggest partnership of 48, before both fell within six balls of each other, Bist run out and Ahuja popping a return catch to Kanwar as they slipped to 78-5.

Richa Ghosh (9) didn’t last long before being bowled by Gautam, while Georgia Wareham (21*) and Kim Garth (14), struggled to get the ball away, but managed to get RCB over the 120-run mark.

SLOW START TO CHASE

The Gujarat chase then got off to a slow start as Beth Mooney (17) and Dayalan Hemalatha (11) went at under a run a ball, before Renuka Singh accounted for both, having Hemalatha stumped by Ghosh and Mooney caught by Wareham, with the score 32-2 in the seventh over.

That brough Gardner in and she dominated a 34-run stand with Deol (5), who was a virtual spectator, before she was caught by Perry off Wareham, leaving them on 66-3 in the 10th over.

Gardner was then joined by Phoebe Litchfield, 30* off 21 (3x4; 1x6), and they made the game safe with a quickfire 51-run partnership off 30 balls.

Gardner fell just short of the target, sending a return catch back to Wareham in the 16th over, leaving it to Litchfield to hammer them home in the next to get over the line with 21 balls to spare.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU: Smriti Mandhana (capt), Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Ellyse Perry, Raghvi Bist, Richa Ghosh (wk), Kanika Ahuja, Georgia Wareham, Sneh Rana, Kim Garth, Prema Rawat, Renuka Singh

GUJARAT GIANTS: Beth Mooney (wk), Harleen Deol, Dayalan Hemalatha, Ashleigh Gardner (capt), Deandra Dottin, Kashvee Gautam, Phoebe Litchfield, Bharti Fulmali, Tanuja Kanwar, Priya Mishra, Meghna Singh

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