WPL 2024: Laura Wolvaardt, Beth Mooney star as Gujarat Giants beat RCB for maiden win of season

ujarat Giants (GG) Women registered their first win of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 season by beating Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Women by 19 runs on Wednesday (Mari 7).

Chasing a mammoth 200 to win, RCB kept losing wickets at regular interval to keep up with the run rate, but the efforts were eventually rendered futile. RCB could eventually manage 180/8 in 20 overs as they lost their third game of the season and Gujarat snapped the four-loss streak.

For RCB, skipper Smriti Mandhana started the charge, scoring 24 off 16 balls before getting out on the first ball of the fourth over.

Mandhana’s partner Sabbhineni Meghana also fell in the first over after the powerplay after scoring just 4 off 13 balls.

Ellyse Perry and Sophie Devine then added 34 runs for the third wicket before Devine (23) was bowled by Tanuja Kanwar.

WPL 2024: Gujarat Giants openers Wolvaardt, Mooney break multiple records with 140-run partnership vs RCB

Perry (24) was next to fall as RCB lost four wickets for less than 100 in 13.1 overs. Richa Ghosh and Georgia Wareham then tried to keep the innings afloat by adding 33 runs for the fifth wicket but Ghosh’s (30 off 21) departure mean RCB needed a mounting 71 in last four overs.

Wareham then kept going with 48 off 22 balls but the target proved too much to handle for her and RCB.

Earlier, Giants openers Beth Mooney and Laura Wolvaardt recorded the second highest partnership of the WPL history.

The duo added 140 runs for the first wicket – second highest partnership for any wicket, behind only to Shafali Verma and Meg Lanning’s 162 for Delhi Capitals in 2023 season.

Coming in to bat after winning the toss, GG openers took RCB to cleaners early on by adding 59 runs in the powerplay.

The partnership was broken on the last ball of the 13th over when Wolvaardt got run out on 76 off 45 balls. Mooney, on the other hand, remained not out throughout the innings, scoring 85 off 51 balls as Gujarat posted highest total of the season – 199/5.

At one point, GG were looking set to score first 200+ total of the season but four wickets for six runs in the last two overs kept them one short of the milestone.