RCB Women battle valiantly but fall short of finishing line vs Gujarat Giants

After a full-blown war that saw two sides going head-on, RCB Women eventually had a bitter pill to swallow as they fell short of the finish line by just 11 runs despite a valiant showdown from their batters in the face of a momentous chase.

Megan Schutt dealt an early blow to Gujarat Giants’ aspirations as she claimed Sabbhineni Meghana cheaply. However, despite seizing early control of the ship, RCB let the leash off as Sophia Dunkley and Harleen Deol ran away with the runs while the RCB bowlers failed to throw a spanner in the works.

The duo added 60 runs for the second wicket before Shreyanka Patil stunned the Giants as she rattled through the two set batters, bagging both Sophia Dunkley and Harleen Deol’s wickets in quick succession. The fall of the set duo did deter the spirits of the Giants but it couldn’t entirely scrape off the runs cascade as the ones who followed suit chimed in with valuable cameos before the RCB bowlers could get the wickets going their way.

The Giants could piled up 201 at the end of their 20 overs as Shreyanka Patil and Heather Knight shared 4 wickets between them while Renuka Singh Thakur claimed her first scalp of the tournament by removing the hard-hitting Annabel Sutherland.

Chasing 202, RCB women once again roared off to a stunning start as Sophie Devine commanded the charge while Smriti Mandhana had her occasional bursts of brilliance in her limited stay in the center. However, Smriti could barely scrape past Ashleigh Gardner as she bagged the RCB skipper for just 18, paving the path for the arrival of Ellyse Perry.

Perry and Devine seemed to be in phenomenal form as they braved and battered the likes of the Giants emphatically, thanks to a string of exquisite strokes and a significant command over the chase as RCB seemed well on course to challenge the supremacy of the Giants.

However, the fall of Perry destabilized the ship for the Challengers as the following batters who came in couldn’t really get in the groove at the earliest and it needed them a while before Heather Knight could arrive in the center and showcase her magic with the willow to instill hope.

By the time it all ended, RCB fell short of the finish line by 11 runs but Heather Knight’s knock stood out yet again, an 11-ball 30* that did well to delay the Giants’ surge to victory.