WPL 2024, Match 18 Review: Gujarat Giants overpower UP Warriorz to record needed win

Game 18 of the ongoing Women’s Premier League (WPL 2024) featured a clash between Gujarat Giants women and UP Warriorz women at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Monday, March 11. The clash began with Gujarat Giants coming in to bat first.

The side opened the innings with Laura Wolvaardt and Beth Mooney scoring brilliant knocks, scoring 43 and 74* runs, respectively. Furthermore, Ashleigh Gardner added 15 runs on the board as Gujarat posted a total of 152 runs on the board in the first innings. 

As for UP Warriorz, Sophie Ecclestone was the highest wicket-taker, with three wickets to her name. Deepti Sharma took two wickets, with Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Chamari Athapaththu taking one wicket each.

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Deepti Sharma’s knock in vain as UP Warriorz stumble

Aiming to chase down the target, UP Warriorz got off to a horrid start as openers Alyssa Healy and Kiran Navgire scored four and zero runs, respectively. Chamari Athapaththu departed for a duck as well. Warriorz found themselves in a spot of bother, but a resilient knock by Deepti Sharma instilled some hope in the side. Deepti amassed 88* runs in 60 deliveries and performed exceptionally well. 

However, the star all-rounder was unable to find a suitable batting partner to perform with. Grace Harris departed for just one run, Shweta Sehrawat added eight runs on the board, and Poonam Khemnar scored 36* runs in just as many deliveries.

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In the end, UP Warriorz just fell short of the target as Gujarat Giants women won the game by eight runs. As for Gujarat, Shabnam MD was the highest wicket-taker in the second innings, with three wickets to her name. Kathryn Bryce and Ashleigh Gardner took one wicket each. Despite the win, Giants still occupy fifth place in the WPL 2024 standings with two wins in seven matches, with UP Warriorz sitting in fourth place with three wins in eight matches.