Renuka Singh Thakur's addition to the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad last year was seen as a significant achievement for the franchise.

Before the first season of the Women's Premier League, Renuka had had a stunning 2022 picking up 40 wickets in 29 matches across white-ball formats. But when WPL 2023 began, Renuka - like most of the RCB bowling unit - struggled. In the 16.4 overs she bowled last season, she picked up a solitary wicket, conceded 9.54 runs per over, and had an average of 159. On Tuesday at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Renuka doubled her wicket-tally from 2023 as she bowled a match-winning opening spell against Gujarat Giants. With figures of 2/14 in a four-over burst at the start of the match, Renuka pegged the Giants back from where they never recovered, posting 107/7 in 20 overs. It took just 12.3 overs for RCB to chase it down as Smriti Mandhana entertained a raucous crowd with her best knock in the WPL yet, smashing a boundary-filled 43.