WPL 2024, Match 8: UP Warriorz Women vs Gujarat Giants Women, Eighth Match - Who Said What?

UP Warriorz (UP-W) won their second consecutive game of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 as they beat Gujarat Giants Women (GG-W) by six wickets in Match 8 on Friday, March 01 at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. After being put in to bat first, Gujarat posted a decent total of 142/5 in their allotted 20 overs as Phobe Litchfield top-scored with 35 (26).

In reply, UP chased down the target in 15.4 overs riding on a magnificent half-century from Grace Harris. The Alyssa Healy-led side got off to a great start to the chase with openers Kiran Navgire (12 off 8) and Captain Healy (33 off 21) adding 42 runs for the first wicket off 27 balls.

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However, after the opening stand, Tanuja Kanwar (2/23) brought Gujarat back into the game dismissing Navgire and Chamari Athapaththu (17 off 11) while Kathryn Bryce shattered Healy’s stumps to leave UP-W on 90/4. Grace Harris didn’t let Gujarat have an upper hand with her sensational knock of 60* (33) smashing nine fours and two sixes.

As a result, UP chased down the target in 15.4 overs and won the game by six wickets. Earlier in the day, Gujarat struggled to find a good rhythm in their innings as Laura Wolvaardt (28 off 26), Phoebe Litchfield (35 off 26) and Ashleigh Gardner (30 off 17) failed to convert their starts. Hence, they had to settle for a below-par score of 142/5 in their allotted 20 overs. Sophie Ecclestone was the pick of the bowlers for Gujarat with figures of 3/20 in four overs.

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Here’s what the two captains and the Player of the Match said after the game:

Losing Captain, Beth Mooney, Gujarat Giants said:

Phoebe and Ash had a very good partnership in the middle and got us to an OK total. We missed out on a few at the end but that's OK. [on Wolvaardt] She was great, it was nice to have her hitting the ball and timing it well. She is a class player and nice to have her back in the XI. We have seen in the other teams, if we have a set batter, you can score 10s and 11s in the back end, that's a goal for us, someone who can score a 50 or a 60 and bat deep. We have got some very good players in our team and we have got to stick to them. Meghna bowled very well in the powerplay today and TK as well.

Winning Captain, Alyssa Healy, UP Warriorz, said:

[on Grace Harris] She makes cricket look pretty easy at the moment. Full credit to her, she batted outstanding tonight. We probably gave them a few too many at the end, but definitely comfortable chasing that down. [on if it was a strategy to get Ecclestone back at Wolvaardt] Not really. 19 overs of spin tonight did the trick. Our middle order is doing its job at the moment and for me and Kirry it is about getting out there and doing our job in the powerplay. It's a well balanced team and we have got amazing players on the bench as well. We've got RCB on Monday night here, we should have won the first game and looking forward to having a crack at them again.

Player of the Match, Grace Harris, UP Warriorz, said:

One ball at a time. I try not to get too flustered or frustrated as I have gotten older, learnt to control my emotions, go back to the basics, and watch the ball. [on if she has ended up not out and on the losing side in a chase] Not that many. It's a rarity. I'm enjoying it here at UPW. I'm embracing my role in the middle-order. I'm enjoying it and I love India. Tonight I bowled a few too many slot balls and am happy with how it is coming out. But I love how it is going, and am working on it. Any opportunity I get to bowl, I try and take it with both hands. Still a work in progress though. Deepti and I have come together a couple of times in bigger partnerships. The left-right combo helps out and puts the bowlers off. We complement each other well which helps the partnership. Keep going as we are and we should be winning a few more games.