11:19pm And...breathe. A rip-roaring start to the WPL and RCB, if this game is anything to go by, have signaled that they will not relinquish their crown easily, even as the Giants lick their wounds and try to figure out how they can consistently close out games. We will be back with more WPL action tomorrow, with a repeat of the 2023 final, featuring the Delhi Capitals and the Mumbai Indians. Do join us for that contest too. Until then, this is goodbye from Venkat Raghav and myself. Take care, folks, and hope you enjoyed our coverage!

Richa Ghosh, Player of the Match: (Plan) I wanted to take a bit of time to see how the pitch was reacting. Wanted to take it deep and wanted to focus on my natural game. (Partnership with Kanika Ahuja) We felt we could chase it down and wanted to play a positive game. The preparations, the match simulations (with the coaching staff) have helped us. I did not think too much about the shorter and longer boundaries, wanted to react as the ball came.

Smriti Mandhana, Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain: I am really happy that we were on the winning side. The way Richa and Pez (Perry) batted, it was amazing to watch. (On the middle order firing) Brilliant to watch, they have been doing that in the nets. Really happy that things clicked. After the first innings, we knew it would be tough to bowl, so always thought we were in the game. We lost the top three wicket-takers of last year, but luckily we had good options (coming in). Whoever has come in…brilliant replacements, which is good to have. Lots to work on as a bowling and fielding unit, so we will have good discussions about it. (On taking Gardner out for dinner having been dismissed by her again) I think I have to take her for runs, I think it is time now (laughs).

Ashleigh Gardner, Gujarat Giants captain: (On the result) Pretty flattening to be honest. 200 was probably only a par score and we needed to bowl really well. It was not to be unfortunately. We dropped some chances, which hurt us in the end. There are always going to be positives in every game, unfortunately not able to come away with a win. Plenty of performances - Mooney at the top setting the tone and Deandra doing what she does best - there were glimpses with the bat but if you miss those chances, that can hurt you. She (Ghosh) batted really well and took her side to a win. It was pretty difficult (with the dew). That did not help us in the end, it was pretty tricky to hold the ball. Not going to use that as an excuse. (On what she will say to the players in the dressing room) It is okay to take the emotion out of what this game was. We had some players on debut who did really well and they can take some confidence out of it. Keep attacking with both bat and ball, and the rest hopefully takes care of itself.

Kanika Ahuja: Feeling very happy, playing after a year, it is a special feeling. Just doing visualizations and whatever I did in my rehab, that helped me (in becoming a better player). (On her approach) I wanted to go after the balls that were in my reach. (On the wicket she took) I did not visualize that (laughs). We thought we could win it if we took it to the end. Richa and Perry played brilliantly and huge credit to my teammates.

10:57pm Oh my days. Oh my word. If you thought the ball-striking in the first innings was outrageous, well, it has a very worthy successor. Ghosh and Ahuja played out of their skins, and they played the way champions do. A partnership that kept finding the fence when their team needed them to, and a partnership that completely deflated the Giants. There are smiles, embraces and hugs from those in RCB colours, and those that turned up to support RCB at the venue, will have had their money's worth.

A pretty ordinary bowling and fielding outing for the Giants. They dropped a whole host of catches and that caught up with them towards the end. They also seemed to lack ideas once RCB came after them and having put up 201 on the board, this defeat will be hard to take and tough to bounce back from.