Gujarat Giants vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, Match 6 – Talking Points and Who Said What?

Harleen Kaur Deol and Ashleigh Gardner. (Photo Source: Twitter/WPL)

The sixth match of the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 saw Gujarat Giants take on Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday, March 8. Both teams struggled in their first two encounters of the tournament and were keen on registering their first win.

Gujarat Giants got off to a tremendous start to the match by batting first and managed to score 201 runs in 20 overs. The struggle of RCB continued as they lost yet another game after the side was only able to score 190. Following Gujarat Giants’ first win of the tournament, let us have a look at the talking points from the game.

Sophia Dunkley masterclass: 

It was the English batter Sophia Dunkley who put in an amazing performance against RCB. The 24-year-old scored a fabulous 65-run-knock off just 28 deliveries. Her explosive batting was highly significant for Gujarat Giants as they put up a massive target on the scoreboard.

Harleen Deol’s resilience:

Apart from Dunkley, Indian batter Harleen Deol was also exceptional for Gujarat Giants. She scored 67 runs off 45 deliveries and proved to be a dependable batting partner for Sophia Dunkley.

Smriti Mandhana’s struggle:

Royal Challengers Bangalore lost yet another match as their woes continue. Skipper Smriti Mandhana put in yet another subpar performance as she was dismissed after scoring just 18 runs. The skipper has been unable to make an impact so far.

Winning skipper Sneh Rana said: 

Amazing, incredible, superb effort from the girls, very proud of them. Injury is fine, it will get fine. Defending her in CCI is never easy, it is always high scoring but we lived up to the game. (On Sutherland death bowling) We thought of giving her the overs because she bowls good wide yorkers. I think we have a good balance, we have a good combination. This is something we were looking for since the first game, but now that we have got our first points, we are very happy.

Losing skipper Smriti Mandhana said: 

In our bowling, we gave 10-15 above par. Really proud of the way the girls batted. It’s a good outfield – one end is really short. That did play on some of our bowlers’ minds. It’s about being hard on ourselves. The way Shreyanka bowled and batted. Also the way Kanika showed her approach. Those two are the positives from our domestic setup.

Player of the Match Sophia Dunkley said:

Bit tough and go and one point, but very proud of the girls today. Really glad to go out there and get a win. I just try to hit the ball hard, hit in the right areas and hope for the best. It was a close finish today, but happy to come out on top.