The RCB team is in a group. Dunkley and Meghana will lead off the batting. Schutt with the new ball
Thanks Shashank. RCB have struggled to pick up wickets (they have taken a total of just three wickets in two matches so far) and they will hope to perform better on the ball today. Despite the fact that Smriti Mandhana said after the last game that it is their batsmen who will have to step up.
Right, we’re almost ready to go. Srinidhi steps in to guide you in the first half.
Kiran Rao: “I expect RCB bowling to show up today. As a team they have yet to match Tara Norris’s tournament numbers (and are considered to be on an associate team!).”
19:05 Gujarat Giants win toss, opt to bat.
Gujarati Giants: S Meghana, Sophia Dunkley, Harleen Deol, Annabel Sutherland, Sushma Verma (week), Ashleigh Gardner, Dayalan Hemalatha, Sneh Rana (capt), Kim Garth, Mansi Joshi, Tanuja Kanwar
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Smriti Mandhana (capt), Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Heather Knight, Richa Ghosh (week), Poonam Khemnar, Kanika Ahuja, Shreyanka Patil, Megan Schutt, Renuka Thakur Singh, Preeti Bose
RCB have brought a leg spin in Poonam Khemnar ahead of a pure batsman in Disha Kasat. The Giants are unchanged from the side that lost a game they should have won against the UP Warriorz.
In the meantime, here is a quick reminder that you can watch ball by ball commentary of this game in Hindi. here
Sriram hits the nail on the head: “First Dottin’s tweet and now no clear news on Mooney! GG PR team needs advice”
Sanket: “Rcb should pitch first and restrict this underperforming hitting unit and try to chase it down. They have a formidable hitting unit in the form of Smriti, Devine, Knight, Perry and Ghosh.”
Praveen wonders: “Is batting evolving faster in the women’s game compared to bowling and fielding? (ie, are female players placing more emphasis on batting than other skills?).” Well, if you ask the Australians, they’ll say no. Remember Perry’s superhuman limit attempts in the World Cup semifinal? That being said, there is a huge gap in the field between Australia, England and the rest.
Max says: “Attapattu will be a better choice over woolvardt as mooney’s replacement”
Mustafa Moudi shoots an interesting nugget first: “Wishing a very Happy Birthday to Indian Captain Harmanpreet Kaur of India and Mumbai India. I wish she was in action today. Interestingly, these 2 teams in action today are the only ones 2 teams whose captain will not be celebrating their birthdays during this tournament. The other 3: Harmanpreet (today), Healy (March 24) and Lanning (March 25) will celebrate their birthdays during this tournament.”
18:44 here is the mentor mithali raj on the big burning question: Is Beth Mooney likely to play a role in the competition? “The physio is deciding. We’ll let you know.” It seems unlikely that she’s going to play, all told. I hear Laura Woolvardt will be flying as a replacement in the WPL after failing to sell at auction. Only time will tell if that’s for Mooney. So Woolvardt, who was going to play the T20 exhibition games in Pakistan, will be replaced there by Sune Luus.
18:35 Good evening and a (literally) warm welcome to all of you. It’s a battle of the bottom two. Only one of them can get it right tonight, while the other will move even further away from the playoffs. Is Beth Mooney by Sneh Frog (or is it Harleen Deol?) Gujarat Giants vs Royal Challengers Bangalore of Smriti Mandhana.
I managed to wrestle with my two year old son’s TV remote watching Cocomelon. Hopefully the coast is much clearer for Srinidhi PR, who will keep me and all of you company throughout the course of this match. Let’s hope this is a fun game.
