Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) overcame a challenging start to their Women’s Premier League (WPL) campaign, securing a thrilling victory. Despite conceding the fourth-highest total in WPL history, RCB mounted a remarkable chase, successfully overhauling a target of 202. Captain Smriti Mandhana expressed satisfaction with her team’s resilience and credited key performances from Richa Ghosh, Kanika Ahuja, and Ellyse Perry for the win.
“It was brilliant to watch,” Mandhana said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo. “They [Ahuja and Ghosh] have been doing that in the nets in the last seven to eight days to all our bowlers. So, really happy that things clicked on. But yeah, I think after the first innings we knew with the dew coming, it was going to be tough to bowl. So we always thought that we were in the game.”
Mandhana also highlighted the exceptional batting from Ghosh and Perry, noting, “The way Richa batted and Pez [Perry] batted was amazing to watch.”
RCB faced early pressure, as Gujarat Giants’ all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner led the charge with a blistering 79 off 37 balls. Gardner also removed Mandhana and Danni Wyatt-Hodge in the second over, leaving RCB at 14/2. Despite this, Gujarat Giants faltered in the field with multiple dropped catches, misfields, and missed run-out opportunities. Perry’s steady 57 off 34 laid the foundation for the chase, while Ghosh (64* off 27) and Ahuja (30* off 13) sealed the victory with a partnership of 93 runs in just 37 balls.
Ghosh, who initially struggled to get going with just 15 off her first 12 balls, credited pre-tournament simulations for helping her handle the pressure. “The plan was to take some time, and see how the pitch is reacting,” Ghosh said. “I wanted to take it deep, and I focused on my game. We [Ahuja and I] thought we could get to the total, and that we would play a positive game.”
She added, “The preparation we did with sir [head coach Luke Williams] really helped us. We had a lot of match situations during practice matches. We kept targets that if the situation is so-and-so then what should we be doing. That helped me a lot.”
Ahuja, returning from injury after missing the previous season, was ecstatic with her performance. “It feels great. I’m really happy as I’m playing after a year,” she said. “All the visualisations and the rehab that I did seemed to have helped me mentally. I tried to become a better player.”
She also reflected on the chase: “I thought I’ll go for whatever is in my reach. We were looking at a [required] run rate of 10 or 12 runs an over, and that worked out. Thankfully, we won.”
RCB faced challenges with key players missing, including Sophie Devine (unavailable), Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, and Sophie Molineux (all injured). This forced them to rely on their bench strength, with debutants Prema Rawat, VJ Joshitha, and Raghvi Bist stepping up. Despite the inexperience in the bowling and fielding departments, Mandhana expressed confidence in the squad but acknowledged room for improvement.
“I think we lost pretty much the top-three wicket-takers of last year,” Mandhana said. “And we had to start, but luckily we had good options. And whoever came in for the injured people, I think they were all brilliant replacements.”
“[But] I think definitely a lot of things to work on as a bowling unit and fielding unit. And we have two days off before the next match, so we’ll have good discussions around it,” she concluded.