WPL 2024: RCB's Sophie Molineux disarrays GG with her 3/25
Royal Challengers Bangalore restricted Gujarat Giants to 107/7 in match number five of the 2024 Women's Premier League in Bengaluru on Tuesday. Australian all-rounder Sophie Molineux was the pick of the bowlers for RCB as she returned with figures of 3/25 from her four overs. Courtesy of RCB's exceptional bowling, GG never got going and kept losing wickets.
Molineux shines with the ball
Molineux finished with 1/36 in the first match against UPW. However, she was in a much better rhythm against GG. She varied her pace and outfoxed Veda Krishnamurthy first, before knocking over Kathyrn Bryce. Ultimately, Molineux deceived Sneh Rana with her flight as Richa Ghosh made no mistake with the stumping. The 26-year-old spinner is seamlessly settling into this RCB setup.
Molineux returns to Australia's white-ball setup in Bangladesh series
The 26-year-old all-rounder was recalled to Australia's white-ball setup for the upcoming Bangladesh series. Australia will feature in three ODIs and as many T20Is in Dhaka, starting March 21. Molineux, who played in Australia's Test victory over South Africa earlier this month, was the standout bowler of the 2023-24 WNCL season with 17 wickets at 14.47. She claimed 6/45 since returning in December.
A look at Molineux's T20 numbers
As per Cricmetric, Molineux has returned with 86 scalps from 102 T20 innings at an average of 25.1. She owns a decent economy rate of 6.62, while her best figures of 4/18 came in the 2016 WBBL for the Melbourne Renegades against the Adelaide Strikers.
A look at other RCB bowlers
RCB bowlers dominated the Gujarat Giants from start to finish. They bowled tight lengths, built pressure, and as a result, secured wickets at regular intervals. Renuka Singh bowled with flair upfront, claiming 2/14 from her four overs. Meanwhile, Georgia Wareham finished with 1/20 from her three overs. Sophie Devine was economical with her 0/12 from four overs.
Here's the GG innings summary
RCB invited GG to bat first and they started slowly. The visitors lost Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield inside the first seven overs with only 30 runs on board. Harleen Deol also failed to capitalize on her start. Eventually, Dayalan Hemalatha's brisk 25-ball 31 helped GG reach a paltry total of 107/7 from 20 overs. Molineux starred for RCB with 3/25.