Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) recruit for Women’s Premier League (WPL 2026), Gautami Naik gave a testament to her sheer batting prowess by slamming her maiden fifty of the tournament in the ongoing GG vs RCB clash. The INR 10 lakh recruit finished on 73 off 55, including seven boundaries and a maximum.
She came out to bat after RCB lost two of their star batters cheaply – Grace Harris and Georgia Voll both for 1 and they were reeling at 9/2 after two overs. Instead of being subdued by nerves, she stepped up to the occasion and stitched a crucial 60-run stand with RCB skipper Smriti Mandhana to make amends following the early setback.
After playing the flamboyant knock, Gautami Naik revealed how Smriti helped her from the other end to reach the milestone.
Speaking during the mid-innings break, Naik said, “It’s a pleasure to bat with her, it’s a big thing to bat with her. She guided me on how to bat, what the wicket is doing, if the ball is not coming on what one has to do. It became easier after she kept talking to me, due to her I was able to get out of the initial phase and then runs came. Grateful and thank you to her because she backed me.”
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The Smriti Mandhana-led side are the only team unbeaten in the WPL 2026 so far, having won all four of their games. A win in today’s GG vs RCB clash will guarantee them a qualification to WPL 2026 playoffs early, with three more games still left to go.
Gautami’s 73, coupled with cameos from Smriti (26 off 23), Richa Ghosh (27 off 20) and Radha Yadav (17 off 8), propelled RCB to a competitive total of 178/6 in 20 overs.
Talking about the chase, Gujarat Giants too faltered at the start, losing three wickets in the first three overs.
At the time of writing this report, the GG scorecard read 34/4 in seven overs with Ashleigh Gardner and Kashvee Gautam currently batting in the middle.
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