Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Smriti Mandhana praised Richa Ghosh and Ellyse Perry for leading the chase that saw RCB score a record-high run against Gujarat Giants in the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) match 2025 at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara on Friday.
An Orange Cap winner in the previous edition, Perry was introduced into the fray at that moment and with the departure of both openers within the first over possibly making the chase the highest in the history of the league. She put together a fine cameo of 57 runs off 34 balls, laced with six fours and two sixes, before falling while trying to clear the long-on boundary.
In tandem with Kanika Ahuja (30 not out), Richa changed the complexion of the game thereafter. The hard-hitting opener from Bengal seemingly couldn’t do wrong on her way to completing 64 runs off only 24 balls and establishing a WPL record chase. “I am really happy we finished on the winning side. Richa and Pez’s partnership was awesome to watch,” said Smriti after the match.
About her middle-order batting, Smriti termed it a brilliant piece of work to behold. “It’s brilliant to watch; they do that in nets. Happy that it clicked. We knew after the first innings that it wouldn’t be easy to bowl, so we thought we were still in the game,” she said 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.
