Game 1: GG v/s RCB
How RCB nailed Wolvaardt, GG's top order dominance, & why can't Mandhana bat against Gardner?
I’m not sure how, but the Royal Challengers Bengaluru just pulled off a 6-wicket win against the Gujarat Giants after chasing down a record 201 runs in just 18.3 overs.
RCB started well with the ball, but Gujarat’s top order tore through the champions’ rookie bowlers. RCB lost both openers by the second over, but a middle-overs masterclass by Ellyse Perry, Richa Ghosh & Kanika Ahuja won them the game.
So, what happened beyond the headlines?
RCB nailed their power play bowling strategy
Written by Aksay Ram M. You can follow him on Twitter, Instagram & YouTube.
Renuka Singh has a simple strategy as an opening pacer. She tries to swing the ball into the stumps against right hand batters, and takes it away against left hand batters.
She predominantly uses this tactic as an attacking option. But during this game, she also used it as a defensive option. She bowled in-swingers well outside the off-stump, literally playing with the wide line to reduce the power generation of both Beth Mooney & Laura Wolvaardt.
Unsurprisingly, the majority of Gujarat’s power play runs - 83% - came on the offside, and mostly through singles and doubles. It forced a 42% dot ball rate as RCB only conceded 39 runs in the first six overs, and the strategy allowed for a moment of strategic brilliance in the fifth over.
Renuka & Kim Garth - another pacer known for her swing - kept feeding Wolvaardt runs on the offside. When Renuka suddenly bowled a ball into the stumps, it went straight through the gate. Renuka double-bluffed the South African opener, and earned herself an important wicket through smart strategy and execution.
Data from Cricviz.
Mooney, Gardner & Dottin played their roles perfectly
Written by Tarutr Malhotra.
Beth Mooney spent the first half of the innings charging down the pitch to mess with RCB’s bowlers. Starting from the second over, she wandered down the pitch 9 times - off which she scored four 4s, and also almost nicked two balls behind to the keeper!
The strategy was not perfect, especially as Mooney hogged the strike without scoring much between the 7th and 9th overs. But, she successfully threw the RCB bowlers off their rhythm. They were focussed on not getting hit, and GG lost just 2 wickets in the first 11 overs.
Once Mooney finally holed out, Deandra Dottin came out to bat with a point to prove, and didn’t care about trifling things like getting her eye in.
She shovelled an awkward uppercut back down the ground on her first ball, did it again for her second, and just started swinging at everything from then on. It was not surprising that she survived two different dropped catches in her short innings, before falling in the 17th over.
But the strategy had an obvious payoff; Mooney and Dottin caused panic amongst RCB’s young bowlers (and Georgia Wareham), and Gardner capitalised brilliantly.
The difference between Joshitha VJ’s first and second spells (9 in 2 overs versus 34 in 2 overs) was the drastically different strike rate complemented by the settled hitting of Gardner.
The GG captain forced the RCB rookie into a more defensive bowling strategy with her aggression, and then picked her off for easy boundaries when the pressure caused mildly wayward balls.
Why does Mandhana keep getting out to Gardner?
Written by Aksay Ram M. You can follow him on Twitter, Instagram & YouTube.
Ashleigh Gardner has dismissed Smriti Mandhana 9 times in T20s, which is her worst record against any bowler.
Mandhana gets into a tangle when she faces an arm ball from the off spinner. The angle from which Gardner fires her straighter deliveries - from wide of the crease into Mandhana’s pads - is the RCB captain’s Achilles Heel.
Even today, the setup seemed obvious. Gardner bowled a slower off spin outside the off stump, and then fired one into Mandhana’s pads. The Indian opener was prepared for it, yet the low bounce of Vadodara did her in.
However, it must be noted that just because Mandhana struggles against Gardner, that doesn’t mean she is bad against off spinners in general.
She averages similar numbers versus left arm spin (27), leg breaks (27), and off spinners (25), but her strike rate against each is 136.6, 147.7, and 116.6 respectively. It’s the air speed, and the angle of the spin that truly makes a difference to Mandhana’s game.
Unfortunately for her, and most batters in the Women’s game today, Gardner’s quick offie with a high air speed is tough for anyone to face.
However, Mandhana doesn’t have to look far for inspiration on how to play the Aussie. Richa Ghosh did a great job of handling Gardner’s bowling by giving herself room and using the ball’s pace to dispatch it to the boundary.
Data from Cricviz.
Both sides need to work on their fielding
Written by Tarutr Malhotra.
At the 9-over mark, Gujarat had scored just 53-2. Then, Georgia Wareham got smacked around the pitch by her national compatriots. But, before you blame her, it must be noted that there were two misfields in her first three balls that let the pressure off for no good reason.
But, that wasn’t RCB’s only moment of sloppiness. ESPNcricinfo claims that the champs only dropped one catch - Ellyse Perry’s fumble against Dottin in the 17th over - but Kim Garth had already lost the ball in the lights in the previous over. Kanika Ahuja let a couple of balls past off her own bowling, and, of course, RCB had an unnecessary misfield that led to an extra four runs off the last ball of the innings.
Meanwhile, Gujarat were consistently sloppy in the second innings. Simran letting Richa Ghosh off the hook when she was still on 0 is going to be the biggest talking point, but Gujarat made a lot of mistakes.
Two other dropped catches, two boundaries conceded due to poor decision making, and sloppy throws that led to too many overthrows (including another boundary!) helped RCB chase down 201 despite being reduced to 14/2 in the second over.
What’s particular surprising is that both teams actually did relatively well in the field in 2024. RCB dropped 0.89 catches a game and GG dropped 0.88, compared to a league-wide average of 1.29 dropped catches a game. They will be hoping that today was an anomaly, and not the start of a new trend.
Data from ESPNcricinfo.
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Excellent bro, if possible analyse how each team approach the game, what are all the tactics they are using against each opponents /bowler, how they are playing rookie bowlers.
It’s a really impressive depth of commentary! Congratulations and I’m looking forward to the rest.