On Wednesday, the Gujarat Giants claimed their first win in the inaugural Women's Premier League, sending the Royal Challengers Bangalore to their third consecutive defeat of the season. Although the scoreline suggests a close match, the Gujarat Giants never appeared threatened while defending their 200-plus total. Led by Sneh Rana, the Gujarat Giants won the toss and chose to bat first, with Sophia Dunkley blazing to a half-century off just 18 deliveries, the fastest of the tournament, while Harleen Deol also scored a fifty as the team finished with 201/7 in 20 overs. The Royal Challengers Bangalore got off to a solid start, with their opener Sophie Devine scoring a fifty, but their progress was consistently hampered as the Gujarat Giants took wickets at crucial moments, leading to a final score of 190/6 for the Smriti Mandhana-led side, who lost by 11 runs.
WPL 2023 points table: pic.twitter.com/pg31hEqEcN
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 8, 2023
Following the win, the Gujarat Giants have climbed from the bottom of the WPL points table, swapping places with the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have yet to win a match in the five-team competition. With one victory and two defeats in three attempts, the Gujarat Giants now have three points and have improved their net run rate, though it remains in the negative at -2.327. Meanwhile, the Royal Challengers Bangalore have suffered three consecutive defeats and have fallen to fifth place with a negative net run rate of -2.263.
In terms of individual performance, Delhi Capitals captain Meg Lanning remains the Orange Cap holder with 142 runs from two innings, while Hayley Matthews of the Mumbai Indians is in second place with 124 runs from two innings. Harleen has climbed to third place in the rankings, having scored 113 runs in three innings. In the Purple Cap rankings, Mumbai Indians' Saika Ishaque remains in first place with six wickets from two matches, followed by Tara Norris (five) of the Delhi Capitals and Kim Garth (five) of the Gujarat Giants.
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