Shreyanka picked up five for 23.
| Photo Credit: PTI
It’s not for nothing that Radha Yadav and Richa Ghosh are rated so highly, especially in the shortest format of the game.
On Friday, the two experienced players once again stamped their class as they brought Royal Challengers Bengaluru out of the woods with a 105-run partnership for the fifth wicket and paved the way for the team’s 32-run win against Gujarat Giants in a Women’s Premier League 2026 fixture at the D.Y. Patil Stadium.
Radha (66, 47b, 6×4, 3×6) and Richa (44, 28b, 4×4, 2×6) made optimum use of the reprieves and guided RCB to 182 for seven after it was reeling at 43 for four inside the PowerPlay.
Chasing a big total, Sophie Devine and Beth Mooney provided Giants a steady start before Shreyanka Patil’s five-wicket haul turned things around for RCB.
Bharti Fulmali made the most of two reprieves and delayed the inevitable with a 20-ball 39 before falling to Lauren Bell. And with that, Giants’ hopes were dashed.
This was RCB’s third straight win while Giants slumped to their second loss in four outings.
The decision to bowl paid off initially for Giants as pacers Kashvee Gautam, Renuka Singh and Devine struck early to rattle RCB. Though Grace Harris started aggressively, with four fours off Renuka in the very first over, she was trapped leg-before by Kashvee.
The youngster followed it up with the wicket of D. Hemalatha in her next over. Hemalatha decided to hook one towards short fine-leg, but it did not pay off as the ball got stuck in debutant Shivani Singh’s palm.
In no time, the Bengaluru outfit lost two more wickets in captain Smriti Mandhana and the young Gautami Naik. It ended up scoring just 45 runs in the PowerPlay.
However, Richa and Radha came to the rescue. As Giants dropped quite a few catches, Radha accelerated the strike, en route her maiden fifty in the tournament, while Richa held fort, before hitting a couple of sixes.
Though Richa fell six runs short of a deserving fifty, her innings proved crucial. Nadine de Klerk kept the momentum going with a 12-ball-26 as RCB went past the 180-run mark and managed to defend the total without much trouble.
Published – January 17, 2026 02:20 am IST
