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Navi Mumbai: In her previous 22 Women's Premier League (WPL) outings, Radha Yadav had scored a total of 75 runs. She conjured up almost as many in one innings alone on Friday.

Early wickets were bound to test the batting depth of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at some point this season, and against Gujarat Giants (GG) they had their No.5 walk inside the Powerplay with a WPL average of just over 10. Radha couldn't have chosen a more timely moment to spike that average, and thereby maintain RCB's winning start as they beat GG by 32 runs. Radha's batting promotion by the RCB think-tank had raised eyebrows, only for the left-arm spinner to raise a composed first WPL half-century in return. Her 47-ball 66, partnering Richa Ghosh (44, 28b), for a 105-run fifth-wicket stand not only brought back on track an innings that threatened to derail, but also gave it solid momentum-shifting wheels. RCB got home to a third straight victory riding that momentum and defending 182/7 on a chasing-friendly DY Patil Stadium. GG needed their three big foreign guns in the top four to fire, and the chase lost its steam once Beth Mooney, Sophie Devine and captain Ashleigh Gardner fell inside seven overs. Bharti Fulmali's 20-ball 39 sprang some hope until her dismissal by Lauren Bell (3/29) in the 17th over, after which Shreyanka Patil completed a fifer. RCB got over half their Powerplay runs in the first over, as Renuka Singh erred in line with prodigious inswing in a 23-run over where Grace Harris flicked away 16. Another nip-backer from Kashvee Gautam got Harris eventually, while Shivani Singh plucked out a reflex one-handed catch at short fine leg to dismiss Hemalatha Dayalan. Smriti Mandhana was also caught sharply at short third and RCB were 45/4 in no time. Radha took her time initially, crawling at 3 off 10 before a cut for four and a straight six got her going. Technically compact, the right-hander punished anything short on either side of the wicket, and drove seam and spin alike with assurance. Richa too played a mature knock, finding the odd boundaries without too many risks to complement Radha in a partnership that wasn't without chances. A pull off Devine that sailed for six to bring up her half -century summed up the left-arm spinner's evening with the bat. And oh, throw in a brilliant catch in the outfield too by Radha.