Dunkley, Deol give Giants first win and hand RCB third loss

In a clash between two teams yet to win a match in the WPL, it was Gujarat Giants who snapped the two-match losing streak at the Brabourne Stadium on Wednesday, beating Royal Challengers Bangalore in a slightly tight finish, by 11 runs.

Powered by Sophia Dunkley's record 18-ball fifty at the top and held together by Harleen Deol's 67 off 45, Giants put together their first 200-plus score of the tournament as Royal Challengers' bowling continued to struggle for the third game on the trot.

In conditions fairly good for batting, Sophie Devine slammed 66 off 45 and Heather Knight played yet another handy cameo with both bat and bowl, but even her slam-bang 11-ball unbeaten 30 at the death was not enough to salvage Royal Challengers. The final margin may make it look like a close game, but it was Giants who had the momentum for most part.

The star of the show was undoubtedly Dunkley, who scored the tournament's fastest fifty. The England batter was not the team's first choice opener and came in to replace the injured captain Beth Mooney in the last match. On Wednesday, she ensured she will be hard to drop even after replacement Laura Wolvaardt flies in. The runs kept coming for her on a ground with a boundary as short as 47 meters.

Deol put in yet another good shift for Giants after her 46 off 32 in the last match against UP Warriorz which the Giants lost in a last-over thriller. She brought up her fifty off 35 balls this time and kept ticking, exploiting the spaces for boundaries.

For Royal Challengers, the tale felt like a familiar one: a team of star players not clicking together. Captain Smriti Mandhana once again got out after a promising start, falling to an off spinner for the third straight game. Richa Ghosh and Megan Schutt couldn't quite make an impact while Ellyse Perry formed a good stand with Devine but didn't hang around long enough to keep the asking the rate within reach.

But the match was not without positives for them as Shreyanka Patil, the young allrounder from Karnataka, was the lone bright spot, with figures of 2 for 32, getting both set batters Dunkley and Deol, and scoring a 4-ball 11 at No. 8.