Royal Challengers Bengaluru scripted history on the opening day of the Women’s Premier League 2025. The Smiriti Mandhana-led side was on the back foot for the majority part of the game before Ellyuse Perry and Richa Ghosh took over and gobsmacked hosts Gujarat Giants at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara.
Batting first, Gujarat wreaked havoc. Opener Beth Mooney had a scintillating knock of 56 runs off 42 deliveries and later captain Ash Gardner looked unstoppable, smashing unbeaten 79 runs off 37 balls. Courtesy of their effort, Gujarat posted 201 runs in the first innings, which was also their joint-highest in the history of the tournament.
When it came to the chase, RCB suffered back-to-back setbacks as captain Smriti departed for four and soon after that Danni Wyatt-Hodge made her way back to the pavilion, scoring four. It was once again Gardner who delivered for Gujarat but Perry and Raghvi Bist stitched a crucial partnership to put the pressure on the visitors.
The Australia international launched an attack on Gujarat while Bist held one end. She made 25 runs off 27 deliveries but it was important at that time as RCB couldn’t afford to lose another wicket. Perry hit well and scored 57 runs off 34 deliveries but it still wasn’t enough. When she departed, RCB were still behind in the chase and needed something monumental.
That’s when Richa arrived and changed the complexion of the game. The 21-year-old smacked 64* runs off 27 deliveries, while Kanika Ahuja hit 30* off 13. They built a partnership of 93 runs to help RCB win the match by six wickets. With that, RCB also made it to the history books for registering the highest successful run-chase in WPL history.
On the other hand, Gujarat will have to blame themselves for the defeat. Richa was dropped for 0 and overall, their fielding effort wasn’t up to the mark. The deafening champions took advantage of that and secured two points.
