With no wins in their opening two matches, the fixture between Gujarat Giants (GG) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will be a tough ask when the two sides face off at the Brabourne Stadium on Wednesday, March 8. With a lot at stake, Gujarat's stand-in skipper Sneh Rana, who has taken the reins in place of the injured Beth Mooney, chose to bat first after winning the toss.
Gujarat were poor in their opening match against Mumbai Indians, and the onus will be on their bowlers like Annabel Sutherland, Ashleigh Gardner and especially Kim Garth, who was exceptional in Gujarat's close loss to UP Warriorz in their second game. Garth bagged a fifer in that game, but against a solid RCB batting unit, it will be a tough ask for the Irish-born Australian.
Speaking about her decision to bat first, Rana said, "It's a used pitch. Want to bat freely with our batting depth... The environment was very positive - the kind of cricket we played. I'm enjoying the role. It adds responsibility to your shoulders,"
For Bangalore, their bowling unit has been poor, losing both their opening matches despite a strong batting performance. This is surprising given the presence of stars like Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt and Renuka Singh.
Sharing her thoughts ahead of the match, skipper Smriti Mandhana said, "Considering the wicket, I don't mind doing both. But would've loved to bat as well. We had the discussion as a bowling unit (about the outfield). First, two games weren't the way we wanted to start. It's 8 matches before the eliminator or the final. A very important game in that context,"
Royal Challengers Bangalore Women
Smriti Mandhana(c), Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Heather Knight, Richa Ghosh (wk), Poonam Khemnar, Kanika Ahuja, Shreyanka Patil, Megan Schutt, Renuka Thakur Singh, Preeti Bose
Gujarat Giants
Sabbhineni Meghana, Sophia Dunkley, Harleen Deol, Annabel Sutherland, Sushma Verma (wk), Ashleigh Gardner, Dayalan Hemalatha, Sneh Rana (c), Kim Garth, Mansi Joshi, Tanuja Kanwar
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