Key Points
Gujarat Giants make strategic toss decision in WPL 2025
Smriti Mandhana reflects on RCB's challenging tournament journey
Both teams make one player change for the match
Gujarat captain Ashleigh Gardner said she chose to ball first because chasing looks a bit easy in this edition of the WPL edition.
"Chasing seems to be a little bit easier throughout the tournament. We spoke about the powerplay. We just haven't had many runs to work with," Gardner said at the toss.
She said that Gujarat have made one change to their playing XI which played their last match as spin allrounder D. Hemalatha came in for Simran Shaikh.
RCB also made one change, bringing back legspinner Prema Rawat for left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht.
RCB skipper Smriti Mandhana said she would also have opted to bowl first and said it is very hard to cope when the team loses close matches. RCB had lost two close matches after winning two games. But Smriti said all the girls are very calm even though it has been a roller-coaster ride for them so far.
"It's very hard when you lose close games but as a captain, it's better than losing games by a big margin. Been a roller coaster ride but all the girls are really calm. There are a few players who are not used to this kind of atmosphere but wherever we play, fans have been supportive. Girls will get used to it," Smriti said.
Playing XIs:
Gujarat Giants: Beth Mooney (wk), Phoebe Litchfield, Dayalan Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Ash Gardner (c), Deandra Dottin, Kashvee Gautam, Tanuja Kanwer, Meghna Singh, Priya Mishra, Bharti Fulmali.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Smriti Mandhana (c), Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Ellyse Perry, Raghvi Bist, Richa Ghosh(WK), Kanika Ahuja, Georgia Wareham, Kim Garth, Sneh Rana, Prema Rawat, Renuka Singh Thakur.
