Key Points
Gardner's fifty anchored crucial Giants chase
Priya Mishra's 3-25 restricted Warriorz
Dottin and Deol sealed memorable win
Impressive batting depth displayed
After a superb bowling performance, led by leg-spinner Priya Mishra’s 3-25, Gujarat Giants (GG) managed to restrict UP Warriorz (UPW) to 143/9. In response, the hosts were reduced to 57/3 in 8.3 overs. However, Ashleigh Gardner led the way for GG by hitting a fantastic fifty, laced with five fours and three sixes. After her dismissal, Deandra Dottin hit a stellar cameo of 33 not out from 18 balls, laced with three fours and two sixes. She found good support from Harleen Deol, who hit an unbeaten 34 off 30 balls, including four boundaries, as GG secured their first win while chasing in the WPL.
Chasing 144, GG didn’t have a great start as Beth Mooney holed out to mid-on for a golden duck on a full toss from Grace Harris. In the next over, GG suffered another blow as Dayalan Hemalatha's wickets were castled by Sophie Ecclestone.
Ashleigh Gardner got going by dispatching Kranti Goud for back-to-back boundaries before Laura Wolvaardt stepped down the pitch to hit Sophie Ecclestone for a boundary. Ashleigh flicked and slammed Saima Thakor for two sixes before Laura hit her for the third maximum of the over, contributing to the 20 runs that came off the fifth over.
The 55-run stand for the third wicket came to an end when Sophie Ecclestone cramped Laura Wolvaardt for room and pace, resulting in her being castled through the gate. However, Ashleigh Gardner continued to march forward, smashing full tosses for boundaries, including one clubbed over deep square leg for six to reach her fifty. But against the run of play, Ashleigh pulled straight to short fine leg and was dismissed by Tahlia McGrath.
From there, Deandra Dottin and Harleen Deol showed good strokeplay on both the front foot and back foot, hitting eight boundaries collectively to finish off the chase with two overs to spare.
Brief Scores:
UP Warriorz 143/9 (Deepti Sharma 39, Uma Chetry 24; Priya Mishra 3-25, Deandra Dottin 2-34)
lost to
Gujarat Giants 144/4 in 18 overs (Ashleigh Gardner 52, Harleen Deol 34 not out; Sophie Ecclestone 2-16, Grace Harris 1-1)
by six wickets.
