In-form RCB look to continue winning run against sliding GG
Vadodara (PTI): On a roll, the Smriti Mandhala-led Royal Challengers Bengaluru will look to extend their winning run when they face Gujarat Giants in the Women's Premier League here on Monday.
Unbeaten RCB are the team to beat in the tournament, having registered their fourth consecutive win on Saturday.
GG, on the other hand, started on a bright note, winning their first two games before losing the next two to be placed third in the WPL table.
The icing on the cake for RCB is skipper Mandhana's return to form as she struck a match-defining 96 against Delhi Capitals in their emphatic eight-wicket win on Saturday.
Opener Grace Harris too has got good starts in the four matches but failed to convert them into big scores, while Georgia Voll too rose to the occasion with an unbeaten 54.
RCB boast of a strong batting line-up in the form of hard-hitting wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh, Nadine de Klerk, Gautami Naik and Radha Yadav.
While RCB's bowling unit too is a potent force with the likes of Lauren Bell and Sayali Satghare providing the initial impetus, able support is provided from spinners like Shreyanka Patil, Prema Rawat and Yadav.
RCB would also take confidence from their 32-run win over GG in their first face-off this season at Navi Mumbai two days ago.
GG, led by Australian Ashleigh Gardner, consists of a formidable batting line-up which includes Australian great Beth Mooney, Sophie Devine, Kanika Ahuja, Gardner, Georgia Wareham and Bharti Fulmali but in the last two matches they failed to dish out an all-round performance to get over the line.
GG's bowling is being led by Renuka Singh, who has failed to impress in the tournament so far.
Devine has been GG's stand-out performer with both bat and ball, but the likes of Kashvee Gautam, Gardner and Wareham will need to pitch in with the ball against RCB.
Teams (from)
Gujarat Giants: Ashleigh Gardner (c), Beth Mooney, Sophie Devine, Renuka Singh Thakur, Bharti Fulmali, Titas Sadhu, Kashee Gautam, Kanika Ahuja, Tanuja Kanwer, Georgia Wareham, Anushka Sharma, Happy Kumari, Kim Garth, Yastika Bhatia, Shivani Singh, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Ayushi Soni.
Royal Challengers Bengalulru: Smriti Mandhana (c), Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil, Georgia Voll, Nadine de Klerk, Radha Yadav, Lauren Bell, Linsey Smith, Prema Rawat, Arundhati Reddy, Pooja Vastrakar, Grace Harris, Gautami Naik, Prathyoosha Kumar, D. Hemalatha and Sayali Satghare.
Match starts: 7.30pm.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Two youngsters killed in Bhatkal as car hits roadside power pole after driver loses control
Bhatkal: Two youngsters were killed late Saturday night in an accident on the national highway stretch near Venkatapura where their car reportedly rammed into an electricity pole beside the road after the driver lost control over the vehicle.
While the exact cause for the accident is not known yet, the large quantity of crushed stones near the car has given rise to the suspicion that the presence stones would have contributed to the accident.
Bilal (15), the son of Mohammad Ashraf Ruknuddin Shipai, a resident of Azad Nagar in Bhatkal, died on the spot. Twenty-year-old Ayaan, who was driving the car, was rushed by the people nearby to a hospital in Udupi, but is learned to have died on the way.
The youngsters are said to have been traveling from Shirali to Bhatkal by car on Saturday night, when Ayaan lost control over the car on the NH stretch in Venkatapura and the vehicle dashed against the roadside power pole.
Bilal’s body was moved to the Bhatkal Government Hospital mortuary for a post-mortem examination and will be handed over to the family later, sources have said.
