RCB register fifth straight win, ensure top 3 finish in WPL
RCB, so far unbeaten, claimed their fifth consecutive win in the tournament and became the first team to book a knockout round.
RCB, the table toppers sent in to bat, did not have the best of starts, losing Grace Harris and Georgia Voll in the second over and the scoreboard showed just nine overs before Naik held the innings together to guide RCB to a respectable 178 for six.
Chasing GG could never recover from the start and lost four wickets for 34 by the seventh over.
Beth Mooney, Sophie Devine, Anushka Sharma and Kanika Ahuja left early.
Kshvee Gautam and Georgia Wareham didn’t help their side’s case either.
Skipper Ashleigh Gardner (54 off 43 balls) and Bharti Fulmali (14) tried to revive their innings but failed. Gardner hit five boundaries and a six during his innings but it was not enough as GG finished on 8 for 117.
Right-arm medium pacer Sayali Satghare continued her fine form and was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/21.
Expertly supported by Nadine de Klerk (2/17).
Earlier, skipper Smriti Mandhana (26 off 23 balls) and Naik then joined hands and put together 60 runs for the third wicket to level RCB’s innings.
The partnership was cut short by Ashleigh Gardner, who caught Mandhana in front of the wicket after a successful review.
Naik (73 in 55 balls, 7x4s, 1×6) and Richa Ghosh (27 in 20 balls) then stitched 69 runs for the fourth wicket to take RCB forward.
While Naik was the dominant player in the partnership, Ghosh used his long handle to great effect, smashing three sixes and scoring 27 runs from 20 balls.
Naik’s run finally ended in the 18th round when Gardner castled.
Radha Yadav (17 off 8 balls) played a brief cameo towards the end to take RCB to the total.
