Gujarat Giants survive a late blitz from Deepti Sharma to keep their qualification hopes hanging on a knife’s edge. The Gujarat Giants led by skipper Beth Mooney suffered a comprehensive seven-wicket defeat against Mumbai Indians in their last game to complicate the qualification scenarios for them in the ongoing 2nd edition of the Women’s Premier League. They were hit by a Harmanpreet Kaur (95 off 48 balls) hail storm as she single-handedly won the game for Mumbai Indians.
The UP Warriorz on the other hand, clinched an edge-of-the-seat thriller by one run against Delhi Capitals. The head-to-head between both these sides is heavily stacked in the favour of UP Warriorz. Gujarat Giants skipper Beth Mooney won the toss and opted to bat first. The openers, Laura Wolvaardt and skipper Beth Mooney provided a solid start, with a 60-run opening stand. Sophie Ecclestone provided the first breakthrough for UP Warriorz.
The Giants lost a couple of wickets in quick succession and found themselves at 73/3 in the 11th over of the innings. Ashleigh Gardner joined skipper Beth Mooney at the crease and the duo stitched a 29-run partnership for the 4th wicket before Rajeshwari Gayakwad picked up the wicket of Ashleigh Gardner to provide the 4th breakthrough for her side. Gujarat Giants suffered a mini collapse as they lost their next four wickets for just 42 runs.
Gujarat Giants eventually ended up with a competitive total of 152/8 in their quota of overs. Skipper Beth Mooney smashed Sophie Ecclestone for 21 runs in the last over, including five boundaries in the last over to take the total past the 150-run mark. Skipper Beth Mooney (74 off 52 balls) and Laura Wolvaardt (43 off 30 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Gujarat Giants. Deepti Sharma (4-0-22-2) and Sophie Ecclestone (4-0-38-3) were the top performers with the ball for UP Warriorz.
Chasing a tricky total of 153, UP Warriorz got off to a horrible start, losing their star-studded top order including the likes of their skipper Alyssa Healy, Kiran Navgire, Chamari Athapaththu, and Grace Harris inside the powerplay. The 16-year-old youngster from Andra Pradesh Shabnam Shakil, triggered the collapse as she accounted for two big wickets of skipper Alyssa Healy and Chamari Athapaththu to push the UP Warriorz on the back foot early on in the run chase.
Shweta Sehrawat joined Deepti Sharma at the crease with their side struggling at 16/4 in the 4th over of the run chase. The duo stitched a 19-run partnership for the 5th wicket before Shabnam Shakil came back and picked up the wicket of Shweta Sehrawat to provide the 5th breakthrough for Gujarat Giants and also claimed her 3rd breakthrough of the day.
Poonam Khemnar joined Deepti Sharma at the crease and the duo stitched a massive 109-run partnership for the 6th wicket threatening to snatch the game from Gujarat Giants. However, the Giants managed to hold their nerve towards the end to restrict UP Warriorz to 144/5 in their quota of overs. Deepti Sharma (88 off 60 balls) and Ponam Khemnar (36 off 36 balls) were the top performers with the bat for UP Warriorz.
Shabnam Shakil (4-0-11-3), Kathryn Bryce (3-0-26-1), and Ashleigh Gardner (3-0-30-1) were the top performers with the ball for the Gujarat Giants. Shabnam Shakil was awarded the Player of the Match for her exceptional performance (4-0-11-3) with the ball playing a pivotal role in helping Gujarat Giants knock the UP Warriorz out of the competition with an 8-run victory. Courtesy of their victory the Giants manage to keep their qualification hopes, hanging on a knife edge alive.