Gujarat Giants captain Ashleigh Gardner won the toss and opted to bowl against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their reverse fixture at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.
Struggling at the bottom of the WPL 2025 points table with just one win in four games, the Giants made one change, bringing in top-order batter D Hemalatha in place of big-hitting Simran Shaikh, one of the costliest buys in the December auction. Hemalatha, highly rated by Beth Mooney, is looking to improve on a poor run of form, having scored just 9, 0, and 4 in her previous outings before being dropped against Delhi Capitals.
RCB, aiming to recover from back-to-back narrow losses, including a Super Over defeat to UP Warriorz, also made a change. They brought back rookie legspinner Prema Rawat in place of left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht. Rawat, who was signed for INR 1.2 crore as cover for the injured Asha Sobhana, played only the tournament opener, where she picked up 1 for 26 in two overs.
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Currently third on the table, RCB can climb into the top two with a win. They previously pulled off the highest successful chase in WPL history against the Giants on the opening night of the season, with Richa Ghosh and Kanika Ahuja leading the charge.
Playing XIs:
Gujarat Giants: Beth Mooney (wk), Harleen Deol, D Hemalatha, Ashleigh Gardner (c), Deandra Dottin, Kashvee Gautam, Phoebe Litchfield, Bharti Fulmali, Tanuja Kanwar, Priya Mishra, Meghna Singh
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Smriti Mandhana (c), Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Ellyse Perry, Raghvi Bist, Richa Ghosh (wk), Kanika Ahuja, Georgia Wareham, Sneh Rana, Kim Garth, Prema Rawat, Renuka Singh
