Vadodara, Feb 15 (IANS): Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Smriti Mandhana lauded Richa Ghosh and Elysse Perry for leading the team to a historic chase against Gujarat Giants in the opening match of the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2025, which is being played at the Kotambi Stadium here on Friday.
Perry, the previous edition’s Orange Cap winner was thrown into the mix with both openers having departed in the opening over and potentially the highest run chase in league history ahead of her but went on to score a 34-ball 57-run cameo laced with six fours and two sixes but fell after failing to clear the long-on boundary.
From thereon out Richa Ghosh completely turned the game on its head alongside Kanika Ahuja (30 not out). The power hitter from Bengal displayed an array of shots on her way to scoring 64 runs in 24 balls to scripting the highest run chase in WPL history. “I am really happy that we were on the winning side. The way Richa and Pez (Perry) batted, it was amazing to watch," said Smriti after the match.
Asked about the batting by their middle order, Smriti said it was brilliant to watch. "Brilliant to watch, they have been doing that in the nets. Really happy that things clicked. After the first innings, we knew it would be tough to bowl, so we always thought we were in the game,” said Smriti in the post-match presentation.
RCB entered the new campaign with a heavily diminished blowing attack compared to their 2024 title-winning campaign with previous year’s Purple Cap winner, Shreyanka Patel, Sophie Molineux, and Asha Shobana having been ruled out of the campaign with their respective injuries.
The trio made up 37 wickets last season and were the top three highest wicket-takers in the tournament. Smriti acknowledged their absence and stated her side will need to work on a lot of areas as a bowling and fielding unit. “We lost the top three wicket-takers of last year, but luckily we had good options (coming in). Whoever has come in are brilliant replacement, which is good to have. Lots to work on as a bowling and fielding unit, so we will have good discussions about it,” she added.