WPL 2025: Gardner’s fifty, superb bowling help Gujarat Giants beat RCB by six wickets

Bengaluru, Feb 27 (IANS) Skipper Ashleigh Gardner led from the front with a 31-ball 58 after a fine overall bowling display as Gujarat Giants defeated Royal Challengers Bengaluru by six wickets with 21 balls to spare in Match 12 of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 at the M. Chinnasway stadium here on Thursday.

Chasing a modest target of 126, Gujarat Giants rode on a brilliant half-century by their captain and an unbeaten 30 by Phoebe Litchfield as they reached 126/4 in 16.3 overs to secure their second win of the season as they attempt to climb up from the bottom of the standings. Defending champions RCB batted poorly in the power-play, trying too much for quick runs, and were sloppy in the field, dropping costly catches off Litchfield as they suffered their third successive defeat in a row.

Chasing 126, the Gujarat Giants, who were coming after a series of defeats, were off to a good start as Beth Mooney (17) and Dayalan Hemalatha (11) put on 25 for the opening wicket. But they lost the openers within eight balls on either side of the power-play — Renuka Singh first inducing an edge behind off Hemalatha and then had Mooney holing out to Georgia Wareham in the deep.

Gujarat Giants were down to 32/2 in the seventh over, and the stadium packed with 28,000 vociferous RCB fans was buzzing as the fans hoped for an unlikely victory.

But Gardner silenced the crowd with a brilliant batting display, scoring her third half-century of WPL 2025 in 28 balls. She first added 34 runs for the third wicket with Harleen Deol (5) and then 45 runs with Litchfield for the fourth-wicket partnership to put the Gujarat Giants on course to victory.

Gardner, who started with cover-driven four on the first ball she faced, turned things in favour of GG, hammering Prema Rawat for a hat-trick of fours — two on the leg side and one hit on the up over cover — and a superb backfoot heave off a short ball over deep square leg fence for a six in the ninth over, which fetched them 19 runs.

The Australian star went past her fifty with back-to-back sixes off Wareham, who had the last laugh as Gardner chipped an easy return catch. Litchfield lived a charmed life, enjoying a couple of lives as she remained not out with 30 (21b, 3×4, 1×6), staying put at the wicket to guide the team home.

Earlier, Deandra Dottin claimed 2-31, while Tanuja Kanwar bagged brilliant figures of 2-16 in her four overs as the Gujarat Giants restricted RCB to 125/7 after electing to bowl first. RCB, looking for a win after two defeats, got off to a poor start as they slumped to 26/3 in the power-play.

Danni Wyatt-Hodge was the first to go, trapped LBW by Deandra Dottin off the fifth ball of the innings after she started with a four. Danni used the DRS but could not get the decision overturned.

The dangerous Ellyse Perry got out for a zero for the first time in WPL, mistiming a pull off a short delivery from Ash Gardner to Tanuja Kanwar at square leg. Skipper Smriti Mandhana fell to Tanjua, caught by Harleen Deol at deep mid-wicket as she went down on one knee to end the dot-ball pressure. Mandhana struck a four in her 20-ball 10.

The RCB innings, which was tottering at 25/3, was revived a bit by Kanika Ahuja and Raghvi Bist as they raised 48 runs for the fourth wicket. A nice piece of pick-up-and-throw by Fulmani after Gardner had dropped an easy catch at cover broke the partnership, as Raghvi (22) was caught short as they tried to steal a run. Kanika blasted a couple of big sixes, scoring 33 off 28 balls. She hammered Priya Mishra for a four and the first six of the match off successive balls in an 18-run eighth over.

Richa Ghosh (9) and Kim Garth (14) were out cheaply, but Georgia Wareham scored an unbeaten 20 to help RCB reach a modest total, which in the end was not enough as Gardner ruled the roost.

Brief scores:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru 125/7 in 20 overs (Kanika Ahuja 33, Raghvi Bist 22; Deandra Dottin 2-31, Tanuja Kanwar 2-16, Kashvee Gautam 1-17) lost to Gujarat Giants 126/4 in 16.3 overs (Ashleigh Gardner 58, Phoebe Litchfield 30 not out; Renuka Singh 2-24) by six wickets.

–IANS

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