Bengaluru, Feb 27 Clinical bowling led by spinner Sophie Molineux (3-25) and pacer Renuka Singh (2-14) helped Royal Challengers Bangalore restrict Gujarat Giants to 107/7 on their way to a comprehensive eight-wicket win with 45 balls to spare in Match 5 of the Women's Premier League (WPL) Season 2 here on Tuesday.
Royal Challengers Bangalore won the toss and elected to field first. They found success soon as Renuka Singh castled Gujarat Giants skipper Beth Mooney for eight with just 11 runs on the board at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here. Renuka moved the length delivery a bit, which helped it evade the inside edge and scatter the stumps.
Phoebe Litchfield, the big gainer of the WPL Auction, edged back Renuka to Richa Ghosh for 5 and Molineux sent back Veda Krishnamurthy for 5, Gujarat Giants were in trouble at 45/3. Their woes were compounded when Harleen Deol, who was looking good at 22 off 31, was run out, going for a needless and non-existent single, and Gujarat Giants staring down the barrel at 50/4.
Dayalan Hemalatha helped them past 100 with an unbeaten 31 off 25 balls as the RCB bowlers kept the Gujarat innings under a tight leash.
Chasing 108, Royal Challengers were propped up by skipper Smriti Mandhana who hammered a 27-ball 43. Fellow opener Sophie Devine was out for six, caught by Meghana Singh off Ashleigh Gardner, Mandhana found a willing partner in Sabbhineni Meghana as they took the score to 72 before the skipper offered a catch back to Tanuja Kanwar to return to the pavilion.
Meghana, who scored an unbeaten 36 (28 balls, 5x4, 1x6), stayed put at the wicket and with the help of Ellyse Perry, who blazed to 23 not out off 14 balls, hitting four boundaries, as RCB reached 110/2 in 12.3 overs to seal a big win.
Brief scores:
Gujarat Giants 107/7 in 20 overs (Dayalan Hemalatha 31 not out, Harleen Deol 22; Sophie Molineux 3-25, Renuka Singh 2-14) lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore 110/2 in 12.3 overs (Smriti Mandhana 43, Sabbhineni Meghana 36 not out; Ashleigh Gardner 1-16) by eight wickets.
--IANS
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