“It’s hard, but having said that, as captain, you’d rather lose close games than one-sided ones because you know you were not that far off.”
Smriti Mandhana’s comments during the toss proved to be an ominous hint of the struggles awaiting Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and their passionate home supporters on Thursday. The defending champions were nowhere near their peak performance, slumping to a third consecutive loss and remaining winless in their much-anticipated Bengaluru leg of WPL 2025.
Gujarat Giants’ captain Ashleigh Gardner had no doubts about bowling first after winning the toss. Chasing had become a proven recipe for success earlier in Vadodara, and this trend seamlessly carried over to Bengaluru, giving captains confidence in opting to field.
The conditions favoured fast bowlers, and Deandra Dottin, alongside the standout Kashvee Gautam, delivered a clinic in swing bowling that dismantled RCB’s celebrated top order. Danni Wyatt-Hodge, coming off a fifty in her last match, was undone by a pinpoint inswinging yorker from Gautam that struck her low on the pads. In the next over, Ellyse Perry—RCB’s batting linchpin with three fifties in four games—suffered a rare off night, bagging her first WPL duck after miscuing a pull shot off Gardner to square leg.
Then came the relentless pressure from 21-year-old Chandigarh pacer Kashvee Gautam, who had previously named Mandhana as her dream wicket. While she didn’t dismiss the RCB captain, Gautam bowled two suffocating overs, conceding nine dot balls—including one on a free hit—across her 11 deliveries to Mandhana.
The left-hander struggled against Gautam’s late swing, which ranged from 1.3 to 1.9 degrees, leaving her beaten by inswingers and outswingers alike with no runs to show for it. The mounting pressure told in the next over when Mandhana, desperate to break the shackles, fell to Tanuja Kanwer’s spin while attempting a slog-sweep.
By the end of the PowerPlay, RCB was reeling at 25/3 on a sluggish, worn pitch, their key batters dismissed and the game slipping away. A fightback materialised in the middle overs—their strongest phase—but the 125 they scraped together was inadequate as the pitch eased up for batting later in the evening.
Gujarat Giants could relate, having faced similar woes earlier in the tournament. After a high-octane clash with RCB on opening night, Gardner’s side arrived at this rematch off consecutive losses, both marked by a familiar script: batting first, losing four quick wickets in bowler-friendly conditions, and posting subpar totals (120 and 127/9) with PowerPlay scores of 28/4 and 31/4.
In each case, the contest was effectively decided within the first six overs. RCB, despite their own three-game skid, hadn’t consistently faltered with the bat until this night. Perry’s heroics—scoring a personal-best 81 and an unbeaten 90 against Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz—had previously masked deeper issues, lifting RCB to 167 and 180 in defeats that went down to the wire due to poor death-over execution.
Only once in 12 completed WPL 2025 matches has a team defended a total, when Chinelle Henry’s freakish knock propelled UP Warriorz to victory over Delhi Capitals. RCB nearly pulled it off too, but Sophie Ecclestone’s late brilliance forced a Super Over. All six games in Vadodara’s Kotambi Stadium, aided by dew and flat tracks, went to chasing teams, while five of six in Bengaluru followed suit despite no dew influence.
Bengaluru’s pitches have struck a better balance between bat and ball, offering early assistance to bowlers that keeps batters guessing. Teams batting first—like RCB in all three home games—have had to adapt to fresh conditions on the fly, often resulting in either reckless PowerPlay collapses or overly cautious starts followed by a scramble. Perry had navigated both scenarios in prior losses, but her early exit against the Giants left RCB without their saviour, leading to their lowest total of the season.
RCB assistant coach Malolan Rangarajan downplayed the lopsided defeat as “one off day,” acknowledging they were outclassed in all areas. He noted, however, that the team’s fight in previous games—taking 167 and 180 to the final over—showed resilience despite the unpredictable conditions at Chinnaswamy, which he deemed fairer than Vadodara’s toss-heavy contests.
With three losses not yet derailing their playoff hopes thanks to a solid NRR and contributions from Mandhana, Richa Ghosh, Kanika Ahuja, and Wyatt-Hodge alongside Perry’s league-leading runs, RCB rejects claims of over-reliance on the Australian star. Ahead of a critical clash with Delhi Capitals in 36 hours, they must regroup swiftly to keep their postseason dreams alive.
Edited By Shvetank Maurya
Also Read: https://theglobalic.com/2025/02/28/gujarat-giants-shock-rcb-to-snap-losing-streak-in-wpl-thriller/
