GG Women vs RCB Women, 13th Match at Delhi, WPL, Mar 06 2024 - Match Result

11:10pm That will be all from us. All teams have now gotten on the board, and another layer of importance has been added to each and every remaining fixture. Tomorrow, the defending champions Mumbai Indians will lock horns with the UP Warriorz. Do join us for that game too. Until then, this is goodbye from all of us here at ESPNcricinfo. Goodnight and take care!

Beth Mooney, the Gujarat Giants captain is also the Player of the Match: It was a bit too close for my liking at the end. Nice to get on the board. Everyone responded really well. there were a few eyebrows raised when I chose to bat. Mike and I had a chat and we wanted to get ahead of the game. (On her partnership with Laura) She was amazing tonight, took pressure off me. Hit the ball cleanly and it was all conventional cricket. Stoked to see her (bat this way). (On her own performance) Don't know if she is as good as Laura (laughs), but happy to contribute. Been on the wrong end of a lot of games. Just pumped for the girls. As a leader, your job is to lead from the front and happy that I could do it. (On the start to their bowling innings) I thought our powerplay was amazing. We knew if they had a good powerplay, it would take a bit off the score. Ash (Gardner) was amazing. Just helps having so many options. It is going to be tough picking the team for the next game because there are a few sitting out too (smiles).

Smriti Mandhana, Royal Challengers Bangalore captain: We definitely had this chat that they have world-class players and match-winners. I still feel 200 was chaseable. If we had better partnerships, maybe (we could have chased it). They started off really well, and did not take many risks. In the last three-four overs, we pulled it back and keep them to 200, and we thought it was actually chaseable. (On teams batting first winning) I think it is just about playing good cricket, and not batting first or second. Having something over 190 is always crucial in tournaments like this. If you can take 2-3 wickets, you are in the game. (On Wareham) We have seen a lot of her in the international circuit, and the WBBL. We thought we would lose by a bigger margin but her batting was important. It might help us (in the NRR calculations). We will recognize what went wrong, try to understand the conditions more and I am confident we will be able to bounce back.

Ashleigh Gardner: (On the winning feeling) Plenty of emotions, to be honest. We have been waiting five games. Lot of happiness and excitement. We finally did it and I guess a sigh of relief as well. (What changed tonight) I don't really know. We played like we had nothing to lose. The girls set us up nicely in the powerplay. We took a lot of confidence out of that. 200 was probably what we needed to get. Exciting to see people chipping in at different times. (On Shabnam Shakil) She is super exciting. She was in the U-19 World Cup winning side. we knew what she was capable of and is always willing to learn. I spoke to her before and what she did was awesome. Her first two overs were brilliant. I personally want to see her bowling with the new ball. With a player like her, you want to give her the best opportunity, so maybe outside the powerplay (for now). (On the match against the Mumbai Indians) We have to take a lot of confidence out of what we did tonight. Close to a perfect performance. Always room for improvement and hopefully we can take it into the next game and the last three.

10:49pm Finally a win for the Gujarat Giants. They just had too many runs on the board, and RCB just did not have enough in the tank to hunt it down. RCB were not helped by a relatively poor start. Mandhana raced out of the traps again but Meghana could not get it off the square. Once Mandhana perished, RCB struggled to keep up with the required run-rate.

Perry could not get going either during her stay, meaning that the pressure fell on Devine. The latter got a couple of sixes away but departed trying for another maximum. Ghosh and Wareham then played useful cameos with the latter, in particular, showing off her range of strokes. Those cameos, however, only reduced the margin of defeat, rather than acting as a catalyst for a remarkable turnaround.

The Giants will be largely happy with how they bowled. On a flat track, and with a short boundary in play, they stuck to their plans. Gardner was the pick of the bowlers. She only gave up two runs in her first two overs and accounted for Mandhana. Bryce was not bad either, picking up the prized scalp of Perry and conceding just 26 in her four overs.

Keeper back up to the stumps now

Keeper goes back

34 off 7. Bahadur needs to play in even numbers this ball

Bahadur walks out. No helmet or cap for her. Not yet anyway, at least

Free hit coming up

43 needed off 11

Bryce to bowl out. RCB need 58 off 18