Gujarat Giants skipper Ashley Gardner had a frustrating day in office as her side crashed to a 61-run loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Women’s Premier League in Vadodara on Monday night.
Chasing 179 for a win, the Giants’ skipper was the only batter who put up a fight with a half-century. The rest of the cast failed miserably as they ended up with 117 for eight. The start was miserable as Beth Mooney (3), Sophie Devine (0) and Kanika Ahuja (0) departing without much ado. Sayali Satghare accounting for two of the three wickets, while Lauren Bell snapped up the other.
Tottering at five for three, Anushka Sharma and Gardner tried to revive the innings, but it was not to be so as Anshuka (18) fell to Nadine de Klerk. Thereafter, Gardner waged a lone furrow as there was no respite for the Giants. Wickets fell at regular intervals and there was no way the Giants could put up a fight. Gardner was the seventh wicket to fall at 97 after she made 54 (43 balls; 5×4, 1×6).
“It’s pretty frustrating. I just feel we are not winning the small moments. We need to win these last three games, but over all pretty frustrating,” Gardner said. “I was pretty angry out there to be quite honest. I was just really frustrated. I was either hitting good shots to fielders or missing the ball. Upon reflection, I was trying to hit the ball too hard,” she said.
“If you look at our dismissals, we were going across the line. I guess the way we need to go forward is to try and play really straight. A lot of the positive options were down the ground, so you give yourself the best chance even when the ball does stay low,” she added.
“The bounce was not necessarily true, and the ball wasn’t staying consistent from same lengths. I knew I have a good matchup against Smriti so was just trying to stay nice and straight knowing she’s really good square of the wicket,” Gardner said about the dismissal of her rival Smriti.
For Giants, it’s three defeats on the trot after two wins to start. RCB have also completed a double over Giants now. On the other hand, RCB become the first team in the WPL to win six games in a row, including the last game of the previous season.
“It’s really easy to go on after the way Bell has opened the bowling. She’s picked up some of the big hitters up front this season and makes it easier for me. Just keeping it nice and simple and trying to back up the other bowlers. It’s been tough for the bowlers in Mumbai so I think to come over here, and credit to our batters for making it look easy getting to 178. It was always going to be tough to chase 180 and credit to our bowlers. We were just looking to bowl it on the stumps. We have really good bowlers that operate in the powerplay. Sayali’s come in and had a massive impact. And then my job is to try and come in and hit the stumps and just mix it up and try to close it on the back end. Bowling group has been great this season,” said Nadine de Klerk, who has the Purple Cap in her possession for now.
“Different people have put their hands up in different games, not relying on a few players. Different bowlers, different batters have stepped up in the games. That’s been a massive key to our success in the last five games,” she added.
Earlier, it was Gautami Naik, who paved the way for RCB’s 178 for six with a 55-ball 73 which contained seven fours and a six. After Grace Harris (1) and Georgia Voll (1) fell, skipper Smriti Mandhana (26) and Gautami steadied the innings with a 60-run partnership for the third wicket.
Thereafter, it was Gautami who hogged the limelight with Richa Ghosh (27) lending her support.
Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 178/6 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 26, Gautami Naik 73, Richa Ghosh 27; Kashvee Gautam 2/38, Ashleigh Gardner 2/43) beat Gujarat Giants 117/8 in 20 overs (Ashleigh Gardner 54; Sayali Satghare 3/21, Nadine de Klerk 2/17).
