Naik's fifty guides RCB to 178 for 6

Vadodara, Jan 19 (PTI) Gautami Naik struck a fine half-century to take Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a respectable 178 for six against Gujarat Giants in a Women's Premier League match here on Monday.

Sent in to bat, table-toppers RCB didn't have the best of starts, losing Grace Harris and Georgia Voll inside the second over with the scoreboard reading just nine.

Skipper Smriti Mandhana (26 off 23 balls) and Naik then joined hands and stitched together 60 runs for the third wicket to stabilise RCB's innings.

The partnership was cut short by Ashleigh Gardner, who caught Mandhana plumb in front of the wicket following a successful review.

Naik (73 off 55 balls, 7x4s, 1x6) and Richa Ghosh (27 off 20 balls) then stitched 69 runs for the fourth wicket to take RCB forward.

While Naik was the dominant player in the partnership, Ghosh used her long handle to great effect and smashed three sixes to compile 27 runs off 20 balls.

Naik's run finally came to an end in the 18th over, castled by Gardner.

Radha Yadav (17 off 8 balls) played short little cameo towards the end to propel RCB to the total.

Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 178 for 6 in 20 overs (Gautami Naik 73; Kashvee Gautam 2/38). PTI SSC SSC PDS PDS