WPL 2024: UP Warriorz topple Gujarat Giants

Grace Harris’s brisk knock of 60* guided UP Warriorz to a six-wicket victory with more than four overs to spare over Gujarat Giants at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in the ongoing season of the Women’s Premier League on Friday.
The duo of Harris and Deepti Sharma once again stayed till the end to steer UP towards their second consecutive victory of the season.
While chasing a 143, Kiran Navgire failed to make an impression and fell early in the powerplay. Skipper Alyssa Healy was in fine touch and continued to pick up boundaries for fun but eventually fell in the final over of the powerplay after scoring 33 which was laced with seven boundaries.
Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu failed to impress in her debut and ended up losing her wicket to left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwar after scoring 17.
Harris continued with her onslaught with some exceptional power hitting and guided UP to a comfortable win. She remained unbeaten with a score of 60 which came in just 33 balls.
Earlier in the innings, after winning the toss Alyssa Healy’s UPW won the toss and sent the Gujarat-based franchise to bat first.
Laura Wolvaardt (28 runs from 26 balls) and Beth Mooney (16 runs from 16 balls) opened for GGT and made a 40-run partnership. However, The skipper was unlucky to lose her wicket in the 6th over against Sophie Ecclestone. Mooney slammed just 2 fours with a strike rate of 100.00. Harleen Deol replaced her.
The second wicket came after Ecclestone made a breakthrough again as she dismissed Wolvaardt in the 10th over. The Gujarat opener hit just 4 fours with a strike rate of 107.69. Phoebe Litchfield replaced the Proteas batter.
Rajeshwari Gayakwad picked up off-form Deol’s (18 runs from 24 balls) wicket in the 13th over. The 25-year-old smashed just 1 four. Ashleigh Gardner replaced the Indian batter.
After a poor performance from the opening batters, Gardner and Litchfield took things in control and posted a solid target to the UP Warriorz.
But Gardner’s (30 runs from 17 balls) knock could not last long and was dismissed by Ecclestone in the 19th over. The Aussie batter smashed 4 fours and 1 overhead boundary with a strike rate of 176.47.
A few balls later, Litchfield (35 runs from 17 balls) was unlucky to lose her wicket by run out from Saima Thakor. The 20-year-old hit 4 fours and 1 six with a strike rate of 134.62.
In the end, Dayalan Hemalatha (2 runs from 4 balls) and Kathryn Bryce (5 runs from 7 balls) were on the crease and added some runs to take the Gujarat-based franchise to 142/5.
On the other hand, Ecclestone led the UPW bowling attack after she scalped three wickets in her four-over spell. Apart from the English bowler, Gayakwad bagged one wicket.
Brief Score: Gujarat Giants 142/5 (Phoebe Litchfield 35, Ashleigh Gardner 30; Sophie Ecclestone 3/20) vs UP Warriorz 143/4 (Grace Harris 60*, Alyssa Healy 33; Tanuja Kanwar 2-23).