TACTICAL PREVIEW
Follow UsAfter a morale-boosting win, the home side Royal Challengers Bangalore will want to come up with an even more assured performance in their second game.
Gujarat Giants, RCB’s opponents, are coming off a disappointing loss in their opening game against Mumbai Indians. They might take some heart from the fact that they were able to drag the game till the 19th over despite defending a modest 127 at the Chinnaswamy.
Last year, both the matches these two sides featured in ended up being run-fests.
In the first-ever match between the two sides, Sophia Dunkley’s 28-ball 67 and Harleen Deol’s 45-ball 67 took the Gujarat Giants to a formidable 201. Ashleigh Gardner then picked up a three-for to help them win the game by a slender margin of 11 runs.
The reverse fixture, meanwhile, saw Sophie Devine smash WPL’s highest score ever as she helped her side chase down 189 in just 15.3 overs with her brilliant 36-ball 99.
Things to watch out for
A top-heavy GG batting line-up
We have spoken earlier about the Giants batting lineup and the issues they could potentially face while constructing it.
In their first game, they had Veda Krishnamurthy opening with Beth Mooney at the top, a move that didn’t particularly work as Shabnim Ismail accounted for the local girl just four balls into the game.
Given how Renuka Singh bowled with the new ball in her last game (0/14 in three overs), this move could cost them big time.
One way to mitigate this would be to have the in-form Phoebe Litchfield open with Beth Mooney. This would help them maximize their powerplay and also allow Veda to play at #5, a position she’s played all her career.
The downside to this would of course be that should they lose either or both of their openers early, there wouldn’t be a lot of batting to follow. And with Ashleigh Gardner’s lack of form, there’s not a lot of experienced batting to handle the early setback.
Further, the dependence on their international batters was on display in their first game itself, with none of D. Hemalatha, Harleen, Sneh Rana and Veda doing much of note (11 runs between them).
Can the RCB’s big guns fire?
Against the UP Warriorz, RCB lost all of their stars in Ellyse Perry, Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine cheaply. They will be hoping for a return to form for the trio, as all of them have been in decent touch recently.
Ellyse Perry was in good form in WPL 2023, where she scored 253 runs at an average of 42 and a strike rate of 123. Later, she went on to have a great WBBL, scoring 496 runs at an average of 45.1 and a strike rate of 132.
Devine is not too far behind, having scored 489 runs at 37 and 141 in WBBL 2023 and was the top scorer in WCPL 2023, scoring 253 runs at 84 and 139, respectively. Also, she scored fifties in both the RCB-GG fixtures and with her strong numbers in Bangalore, it won’t be too long before she lights up the Chinnaswamy.
Will the GG bowlers turn up?
The scorecard might say that the Giants conceded runs at 7.1 RPO, but the bowling left a lot more to desire. Barring Tanuja Kanwar and the odd over from Lea Tahuhu, there was hardly anyone who troubled the batters.
Kanwar also had a good time with the bat against MI, as she bailed them out with a 46-run partnership for the 8th wicket. She top-scored with 28 runs to take the Giants to 126 after being 78/7 at one stage.
Gardner has been more than decent with the ball in hand, having picked up the third-most wickets since the start of 2023. In their first match as well, she was consistent with her lines but had little to show for when it came to wickets.
Now, can they step up against the home side?
Ground details
In the three games played so far, MI have chased down successfully in two games, while RCB managed to hold their nerve to defend against the UP Warriorz. With dew practically playing no role in the matches so far, it won’t be surprising if the toss-winning team opts to bat first. The surface has progressively deteriorated, bringing spinners further into the game. The slower bowlers have accounted for over 60% of the wickets taken so far this season.
Tactical insights
Gardner has not had the best of times with the bat and had a mixed outing in WBBL 2024 where she just averaged 22.2. Moreover, her strike rate hasn’t been that great as well. What might be a bit more disconcerting for the GG think-tank is her record against leg spinners in the recent past. She averages only 20.7 (the lowest against any bowling type) in the 21 innings she’s played against them since 2023. She was dismissed by Amelia Kerr in the first match and will have to face a red-hot Asha Sobhana and Georgia Wareham in the next.
Devine strikes at over 180 while facing all other bowlers, but Lea Tahuhu has had the wood over her. In the 14 times they’ve faced off, Devine has not been able to strike at over 85 and also has a dismal average of 15.
Mooney has always played Renuka Thakur with great caution. She strikes at only 101 against Renuka (her lowest against any RCB bowler), but has done so at an average of 106. Given the lack of certainty around her opening partner, such a circumspect start could apply undue pressure on the rest of the lineup.
Probable XIs
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Royal Challengers Bangalore: Smriti Mandhana (C), Sophie Devine, S. Meghana, Ellyse Perry, Indrani Roy, Richa Ghosh (WK), Nadine de Klerk, Sophie Molineux, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, Renuka Singh
Gujarat Giants: Beth Mooney (C & WK), Phoebe Litchfield, Harleen Deol, Ashleigh Gardner, Veda Krishnamurthy, Kathryn Bryce, D. Hemalatha, Sneh Rana, Sayali Sathgare, Mannat Kashyap, Meghna Singh
