Sophie Ecclestone’s 3-fer, followed by Grace Harris show with the bat helped UP Warriorz Soar and keep the Gujarat Giants winless.
The UP Warriorz led by skipper Alyssa Healy claimed their first victory of the season by defeating the defending champions Mumbai Indians led by the stand-in skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt by 7 wickets. On the other hand, the Gujarat Giants led by skipper Beth Mooney continued their search for a settled opening combination as skipper Beth Mooney found a new opening partner in Harleen Deol in their last game against RCB. However, that didn’t provide a solution for the Gujarat Giants as their batting woes continued to haunt them.
The UP Warriorz skipper Alyssa Healy won the toss and opted to field first. The Gujarat Giants made a couple of changes, Laura Wolvaardt and Mannat Kashyap replaced Veda Krishnamurthy and Lea Tahuhu in the playing 11. UP Warriorz on the other hand, replaced Vrinda Dinesh and Tahlia McGrath with Chamari Athapaththu and Saima Thakor in the playing 11. After being inserted to bat first, Gujarat Giants got off to their best start of the season with a 40-run opening partnership. Sophie Ecclestone provided the first breakthrough for the UP Warriorz by sending the opposition skipper Beth Mooney to the pavilion.
Harleen Deol joined Laura Wolvaardt at the crease and the duo stitched a 21-run partnership for the 2nd wicket before Sophie Ecclestone picked up the wicket of Laura Wolvaardt to provide the 2nd breakthrough for the UP Warriorz. Phoebe Litchfield joined Harleen Deol at the crease and the duo stitched a 22-run partnership for the 3rd wicket before Rajeshwari Gayakwad picked up the wicket of Harleen Deol to provide the 3rd breakthrough for her side.
Ashleigh Gardner joined Phoebe Litchfield at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 52-run partnership for the 4th wicket before Sophie Ecclestone came back and picked up the big wicket of Ashleigh Gardner to provide the 4th breakthrough for the UP Warriorz. The Gujarat Giants eventually ended up with a total of 142/5 in their quota of overs. Phoebe Litchfield (35 off 26 balls), Ashleigh Gardner (30 off 17 balls), and Laura Wolvaardt (28 off 26 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Gujarat Giants.
Sophie Ecclestone (4-0-20-3), Chamari Athapaththu (4-0-19-0), and Rajeshwari Gayakwad (4-0-33-1) were the top performers with the ball for the UP Warriorz. Chasing a target of 143, the openers got off to a flying start, scoring at almost 10 runs an over, before Tanuja Kanwer picked up the wicket of Kiran Navgire to provide the first breakthrough for the Gujarat Giants. The WPL debutant Chamari Athapaththu joined skipper Alyssa Healy at the crease, however, they failed to stitch a substantial partnership as they lost the wicket of their skipper Alyssa Healy. Kathryn Bryce provided the 2nd breakthrough for her side.
Grace Harris joined Chamari Athapaththu at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 36-run partnership for the 3rd wicket before Tanuja Kanwer came back and picked up the big wicket of Chamari Athapaththu to provide the third breakthrough for Gujarat Giants. Shweta Sehrawat joined Grace Harris at the crease and the duo failed to stitch a substantial partnership as they lost the wicket of Shweta Sehrawat to provide the 4th breakthrough for Gujarat Giants.
Deepti Sharma joined Grace Harris at the crease and the duo took their side over the line by 6 wickets and 26 balls to spare, with a 53-run 5th wicket partnership. Grace Harris (60 off 33 balls) and skipper Alyssa Healy (33 off 21 balls) were the top performers with the bat for the UP Warriorz. Tanuja Kanwer (3-0-23-2) and Meghna Singh (4-1-39-1) were the top performers with the ball for the Gujarat Giants.
Grace Harris was awarded the Player of the Match for her match-defining knock (60 off 33 balls) with the bat, scoring at a humongous strike rate of 181.81. She played a crucial role in keeping the Gujarat Giants winless so far in the 2nd edition of the tournament.
