UPW restricted GG to 142 for the loss of five wickets in 20 overs, with Sophie Ecclestone taking three wickets, before successfully chasing down the goal in 15.4 overs behind an unbeaten Grace Harris 60-run innings.
Unfortunately, the Gujarat Giants (GG) appear to have adopted it as their mantra as they lost to UP Warriorz by six wickets at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday, the 2024 Women’s Premier League (WPL) team for the third time in a row.
Warriorz, needing to win by 143 runs, got off to a fast start thanks to captain Alyssa Healy and Kiran Navgire. They destroyed the GG bowling attack, scoring 42 runs in the first five overs, and were removed by the ever-impressive Tanuja Kanwer after Navgire was caught by Dayalan Hemalatha (12 runs off 8 balls). Healy (33 runs off 21 balls), bowled by Kathryn Bryce, was removed by GG to increase the pressure on the Warriorz.
Grace Harris and Chamari Athapaththu, making her WPL debut, combined for 36 runs for the third wicket before the latter was caught by Laura Wolvaardt at the square leg boundary (17 runs off 11 balls).
The Warriorz required 53 runs in the final ten overs, and when Shweta Sehrawat (2 runs off 7 balls) was bowled to Meghana Singh, GG had their noses in front, with the onus on Harris to lead her team home.
The Australian (60 runs off 33 balls) was joined by Deepti Sharma (17 runs off 14 balls), and the duo combined for 53 runs for the fifth wicket to enable Warriorz win their second consecutive game and gain momentum in the competition.
Earlier, GG reached 142 for 5 in their 20 overs thanks to a 52-run partnership between Ashleigh Gardener and Phoebe Litchfield, two Australians.
With Wolvaardt and captain Beth Mooney scoring 40 runs for the first wicket, GG got off to a solid start. However, Mooney was bowled by Sophie Ecclestone (16 runs off 16 balls), and Harris caught her, giving Warriorz the opportunity to score in the last Powerplay over.
After Mooney was bowled out, the Warriorz tightened their grip as the boundaries became much less frequent. The GG batsmen finally gave way under strain, and Wolvaardt was caught at mid-off by Chamari Athapaththu (28 runs off 26 balls) as she attempted to force the issue, giving Ecclestone her second wicket.
After ten overs, GG was barely making runs at a run a ball, and it was up to Litchfield and Harleen Deol to push them to a respectable score.
Both batsmen’s cautious approach meant that Healy was never forced to attempt anything spectacular, and as with Wolvaardt, it was the frustration of not being able to raise the scoring rate that gave Warriorz their third wicket when Deol (18 runs off 24 balls) was caught by Anjali Sarvani by Rajeshwari Gayakwad.
On 19, Deepti gave Litchfield a life after he had dismissed a sitter off Ecclestone’s bowling. The southpaw then took advantage of the reprieve, scoring 52 runs for the fourth wicket with Ashleigh Gardener, including an over of 19 off Deepti.
To tie GG back and limit them to 142 runs after 20 overs, Warriorz responded by taking two wickets in the same over. They removed Gardener (30 runs off 17 balls) and Litchfield (35 runs off 26 balls) in the span of two balls.
