Hello and welcome to Sportstar’s live coverage of the Women’s Premier League clash between UP Warriorz and Gujarat Giants at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday.
A thrilling three-wicket win for the UP Warriorz. 2 losses in 2 for Gujarat Giants
UPW 175/7 (20 overs): HOW ABOUT THAT FOR A STATEMENT OF INTENT. Grace Harris welcomes Annabel Sutherland with A SIX over deep midwicket. She is pumped. Sutherland responds by going a bit too wide. Wide called. Sneh Rana takes time to review. Umpires decide in UP’s favour. It’s all happening. Run out chance in the next one as Ecclestone’s bat sticks. She drops it and runs but there’s enough time to run her out but the Giants can’t complete it. DRAMA! Something has possessed Grace Harris. She goes straight over the bowler’s head for FOUR. Sutherland goes wide again but this time the umpires are not interested. Harris reviews. 6 NEEDED FROM 2 BALLS. WIDE GIVEN! Someone make a reel of Alyssa Healy signing calm down to her players with Rema’s track. Come on! Hilarious scenes. Grace Harris is running on adrenaline. Harris knocks one over cover. There are fielders closing in and the ball is stopped but there’s a misfield and it runs away to the boundary. CRIMINAL THIS FROM GUJARAT GIANTS. UP needs one run from two balls to win. Grace Harris finishes things off in style with a SIX over deep backward square leg.
Grace Harris of UP Warriorz celebrates
19 needed off the last over.
UPW 150/7 (19 overs): Gardner comes in to bowl her final over. 14 RUNS CONCEDED with the six from Ecclestone. The pair has been running really well between the wickets. Their T20 experience is very evident here. Harris ensures she is on strike for the last over with 19 runs needed.
UPW 130/7 (18 overs): Grace Harris means business. Garth returns for her third over and is probably wishing she would have come in later. Grace Harris takes her to the cleaners in this over with four boundaries It would have been a fifth BOUNDARY but she’s found the fielder at the fence. IS IT OUT? NO. IT’S A NO BALL. How about that? Harris is beaming, mighty pleased with herself. 20 runs come off the over and it’s purely down to Harris’ spunk!
UPW 117/7 (17 overs): Tanuja Kanwar returns. Has a good first few deliveries but ends up offering the full toss to Grace Harris who rightly punishes it with a SIX over deep midwicket.
24 balls left. 63 runs to go. TALL ASK for the Warriorz. Ecclestone and Harris at the crease.
UPW 105/7 (16 overs): Sutherland resumes. As does Harris. She sends a slighty overpitched delivery over the bowler’s head and to the fence for FOUR. Sutherlands responds by cleaning up Vaidya at the other end. She employs the off cutter as Vaidya holes out to Hemalatha at mid-on. Seven runs and a wicket come off this over. It’s getting tight for the Warriorz. WICKET Devika Vaidya c Hemalatha b Sutherland 4 (7b)
UPW 100/6 (15 overs): Gardner returns. Someone needs to accelerate to give this UP chase some hope. Harris and Vaidya at the crease focus on strike rotation but Harris finds a short ball to dispatch through square leg for FOUR. Eight runs come off the over in total.
UPW 90/6 (14 overs): The required rate is up to 12 now. Sneh Rana gets Tanuja Kanwar in now. Just four runs will come off this over. Kept the deliveries full and outside off to draw the batter but the over is negotiated safely. The required rate is making the dugout and the pair in the middle uncomfortable.
UPW 86/6 (13 overs): Garth returns and has her fourth wicket of the day. She removes the dangerous Kiran Navgire. The short ball, a particularly pesky one for Navgire and she has gloved the ball to Sushma Verma behind the stumps. Simran Shaikh is the new batter in and she has to go as quickly as she comes in as Garth fires a yorker straight into her stumps. She won’t get a hattrick though. Has Garth done enough to bring the Giants back into this game and decisively? Devika Vaidya is the new batter in. WICKETS Kiran Navgire c †Verma b Garth 53 (43b), Simran Shaikh b Garth 0 (1b)
UPW 86/4 (12 overs): Joshi returns to the attack. Navgire gets to her fifty and she has the widest smile on her face. Lovely innings from the batter who plays for Nagaland in domestic cricket. The domestic run machine is proving her mettle on the biggest of franchise stages. Oh, hold on! She’s dropped immediately after. Sutherland has to run in to attempt a very low catch, quite a hard one this and she can’t do it. Lifeline nevertheless. Mansi Joshi will not end the over wicketless though as a straight delivery knocks Deepti’s stumps. Brilliant dismissal this. A half century stand broken. WICKET Deepti Sharma b Joshi 11 (16b)
UPW 81/3 (11 overs): Sneh Rana returns for her third over. The very first ball goes so close to the leg stump, gets past the batter and the keeper for FOUR. Bonuses. That was Deepti at the crease. Navgire too ends up getting a few extra runs off her batting. Overthrow goes beyond the fielder. 11 runs come off the over.
UPW 70/3 (10 overs): The Deepti-Navgire partnership is nearing the half century mark. Mansi Joshi comes into the attack for the first time today. She was expensive yesterday and looks like she’ll make a similar start giving away 10 runs in her first over. In between all the running is a neat boundary through deep square leg. Navgire has scored 42 of the 50 runs in the partnership between her and Deepti Sharma. Gun player.
UPW 60/3 (9 overs): Sneh Rana brings herself on. She’s not been too shabby today, stepping in for Beth Mooney who is nursing an injury. The tempo has slowed down a little, something the duo in yellow need to be mindful of. A nice good length delivery tossed up to Kiran Navgire is sent over the boundary ropes for a massive SIX. Down on one knee and a big slog. Beautiful shot. Alyssa Healy is delighted in the dugout as she applauds the shot. Nine runs come off the over.
UPW 49/3 (8 overs): Navgire is leading the charge as things stand. Gardner returns. The Maharashtrian keeper-batter does not care as she gets a pad-headed ball to square leg for FOUR. Seven runs come off the over in total.
Navgire understands the value of time and making opportunities count. Check out this chat with her coach Gulzar Sheikh where he tells us what makes his student different from the read.
UPW 44/3 (7 overs): Sutherland returns. Navgire and Deepti keep the strike rotating. But Navgire does manage a FOUR by edging the ball just past the keeper. It runs away for a boundary. Nine runs come off the over.
UPW 35/3 (6 overs): Tanuja Kanwar returns. Quiet start but Navgire tries to get a double by lobbing it over the bowlers head. Gets two. She follows it up with a nice big SIX. Lot of height on that. Sweeps and sends it over midwicket. We know Navgire has a lot of these power-packed blows in her. Nine runs come off the over for UPW.
UPW 26/3 (5 overs): Pace comes in with Annabel Sutherland. Kiran Navgire will negotiate the Aussie with caution. Can’t afford to throw her wicket away. Sutherland is employing the short ball, not one of Navgire’s strengths, against her. She throws in a bouncer there which just darted past her helmet as she attempted to pull it. No harm done. Just the one run from this over.
UPW 25/3 (4 overs): Ashleigh Gardner into the attack now. Deepti Sharma is giving Kiran Navgire company. Navgire comes across the line and hits Garnder for a FOUR past square leg, finds the gap well here for FOUR. Fairly quiet over from there with 5 runs in total coming off it.
Kim Garth of Gujarat Giants celebrates the wicket of Shweta Sehrawat of UP Warriorz during match three of the Women’s Premier League between the UP Warriorz and the Gujarat Giants held at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai on the 5th March 2023 Photo by: Deepak Malik / SPORTZPICS for WPL | Photo Credit: Deepak Malik
UPW 20/2 (3 overs): GARTH REMOVES HEALY! What a catch off her own bowling. She takes it on her second attempt but the dangerous Aussie has to make the long walk back. UP has promoted Kiran Navgire to no.3. Exciting move this. Sehrawat, a young up and comer along with Navgire, a late bloomer but still an up and comer. THIS GAME! Navgire takes a few minutes to settle in and announces her arrival with a BOUNDARY. Driven through mid-off. A chaotic ball follows. A wide delivery, which prompts the umpires to award a bye and a run out attempt too. All save, just a few raised heartbeats out in the middle now. GARTH GETS HER SECOND WICKET IN AN OVER. Shweta Sehrawat has to go. A length delivery is sliced by Sehrawat, the top run-scorer in the T20 World Cup this year, to hole out to Mansi Joshi at short third. She’s not done. She has a THIRD WICKET in this over as she removes Tahlia McGrath for a golden duck. Top order gone, all in an over’s work for Kim Garth. WICKETS Alyssa Healy c & b Garth 7 (8b), Shweta Sehrawat c Joshi b Garth 5 (6b), Tahlia McGrath c Hemalatha b Garth 0 (1b)
UPW 13/0 (2 overs): Tanuja Kanwer comes in for her first over. Quiet over but there’s a runout chance in the penultimatre delivery. Kanwer gets Sehrawat on the pads but the appeal is ignored. There’s a chance to run the batter out but the throw comes to the wrong end. Healy was all the way across the track but Sehrawat was rooted to the spot. SAVED. Sehrawat is unfazed as she ends the over with a FOUR past short fine.
UPW 7/0 (1 over): India’s U19 World Cup-winning star batter Shweta Sehrawat opens the batting with multiple World Cup-winning Aussie star Alyssa Healy. What an opportunity for the youngster. Kim Garth, who came into the Gujarat team as Deandra Dottin’s replacement, will open the bowling. Fairly straightforward over from the Irish-Aussie. Healy gets a half volley which she promptly gets past the square leg fence for FOUR. Garth almost has a chance as an attempt to defend by Healy generates an inside edge and lands in her knee roll. Saved by the pads here. Seven runs come off over.
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Sophie Ecclestone of UP Warriorz and Harleen Deol of Gujarat Giants exchanged greetings before the game. The duo starred for their respective teams in today’s game.
GG 168/6 (20 overs): Ecclestone will finish the innings. Hemalatha and Rana on strike. After a quiet start, Sneh Rana manages to find the boundary, flicking it to deep square leg beating the fielder. The Giants have set the UP Warriorz a target of 170 to win their campaign opener.
GG 160/6 (19 overs): Deepti into the attack for her final over. Hemalatha is eyeing a late flourish here at the Brabourne stadium and starts with a SIX. Heaved over the long on fielder this. Brings up the 150 for the Giants. Hemalatha runs a double right and follows that with a FOUR but she has the UPW fielders to thank for this one. Two fielders, one from long on and one from deep midwicket both run to collect the ball and wait for the other to dive. Since neithere does, the ball comfortably goes past the ropes. A little funny this, not if you’re Alyssa Healy though.
GG 148/5 (18 overs): Sarvani returns so our spin duo of Deepti and Ecclestone will close out innings at the death. Anjali is here to make an impact and she does as she removes Harleen first up. She tries to clear the midwicket rope but McGrath is there and takes a neat catch. An innings that picked up steam because of that one over for Harleen comes to an end. Hemalatha who looked in decent touch yesterday continues to replicate her heroics from yesterday with a BOUNDARY to shift momentum from that dismissal. Full delivery this and she gets down on one knee and sends that over point. FOUR. WICKET Harleen Deol c McGrath b Anjali Sarvani 46 (32b)
GG 141/5 (17 overs): Devika Vaidya returns and Harleen smashes her for four consecutive boundaries through deep square leg, a pull to deep midwicket and one driven through covers and another slice through point. 18 runs come off this over. Big one for the Giants. 160 looking very doable now.
Deepti Sharma of UP Warriorz celebrates the wicket of Ashleigh Gardner
GG 123/5 (16 overs): Deepti returns. Gardner takes her on for a FOUR first up past square leg. But oh, is that a wicket!! She sends a fuller delivery in to Garnder who is out of her crease. The balls hits Healy who can’t quite collect is cleanly but she manages to get the bails off. TV umpire’s replay shows Gardner well out of her crease. Hemalatha comes in. Seven runs come off the over. Gujarat needs to accelerate. WICKETAshleigh Gardner st b Sharma 25 (19b)
GG 116/4 (15 overs): Anjali Sarvani returns. It has been a cagey first few delivers from her as she gets the batters rooted to the popping crease. Harleen negotiates a widish delivery for a few runs. Gardner is then hit on the pads but the ball seemed to be heading down leg. No one will review. Anjali is taken to the boundary soon enough by Harleen with 13 runs coming off the over in total.
GG 103/4 (14 overs): Ecclestone is back in the attack. Gardner slams Ecclestone for a six. She comes down the track for this one and sends it soaring over long on. 10 runs come off this over. Time for a timeout.
GG 93/4 (13 overs): Gayakwad returns to the attack.and Gardner sends this through to the boundary. FOUR. Gayakwad has an opportunity to to take a wicket as Ecclestone runs in to complete the catch but she will survive as Harleen clears the fielder. Two runs.
GG 84/4 (12 overs): Devika Vaidya comes into the attack. Ash Gardner and Harleen Deol need to up the tempo now. Vaidya switches between her lengths but keeps tempting the players outside off. The Gujarat duo abstains from biting the bait and see the over through with six runs coming off it.
GG 78/4 (11 overs): McGrath returns. Sushma Verma decides to take her on. Looks a little short but goes up and Sushma pulls for FOUR. However, McGrath will come out of this duel successful as she gives off a top edge while trying to go across her body. Shweta Sehrawat is waiting patiently at midwicket to catch. 11 runs come off the over. WICKET Sushma Verma c Sehrawat b McGrath 9 (13b)
GG 67/3 (10 overs): Gayakwad returns after the strategic timeout. A fairly slow start to the over but we see a wide call being challenged by the UP Warriorz as Verma tries to come across the pitch to sweep. It’s given a bye. Harleen manages to pick the gap yet again as she uses her feet to drive for FOUR. Nine runs come off the over.
GG 58/3 (9 overs): Tahlia McGrath comes into the attack now. UP seems a bit thin on pace. One can only imagine the havoc Shabnim Ismail would have caused in this game. Healy is going the Mooney way in trying out a number of bowling options. She concedes a boundary as she gets her line a little off and Harleen is happy to dispatch it to the boundary. Seven runs come off the over for Giants.
GG 51/3 (8 overs): Ecclestone returns and STRIKES IN THE FIRST BALL. Sutherland holes out to Anjali Sarvani who comes running in to long on. Sushma Verma is the new batter in. Just one run comes off the over as the two new batters now try and negotiate the UP Warriorz attack. WICKET Annabel Sutherland c Anjali Sarvani b Ecclestone 8 (10b)
GG 50/2 (7 overs): Deepti returns. No risks will be taken here as the Giants look to safely see the spinner off. Five runs come off the over. In the penultimate delivery, it looked like there was a chance for a runout but the pair are safely in and focusing on strike rotation. Good sticking to the basics from the Giants.
GG 45/2 (6 overs): Last over of the Powerplay. Anjali Sarvani will close it out. Healy has moved up, which means we hear her instructions nice and clear on that stump mic. Sutherland welcomes Sarvani with a four over square leg. Nice smart shot that. Just six runs come off it. And that ends the powerplay.
GG 39/2 (5 overs): Ecclestone comes into the attack. Meghana welcomes her with a boundary. It was a fuller delivery veering outside off and she whacks this through cover. But Ecclestone has the last laugh with Meghana holing out to at short third soon after. A sprightly innings from the Indian batter comes to an end. Annabel Sutherland is the new batter in. Five runs come off the over. WICKET Sabbhineni Meghana c Sehrawat b Ecclestone 24 (15b)
GG 34/1 (4 overs): Deepti Sharma comes into the attack now. A slightly antsy start to this over ensues with a few edges here and there. Dunkley was a bit overly cautious of the Indian international and ends up falling to the spinner. Yorker which pierces through Dunkley’s defence. She had no way of surviving this. Breakthrough for the Warriorz. Harleen walks in but the over is done, with 4 runs and a wicket coming off it. WICKET Sophia Dunkley b Sharma 13 (11b)
GG 30/0 (3 overs): Gayakwad returns and begins with a fuller delivery which Meghana punishes for a FOUR first up. That surges past mid-off. Meghana is leading the surge today and is picking those gaps really well as she sends the last ball for a boundary, using the pace of the ball and guiding it past short third. 10 runs off the over for Gujarat.
GG 20/0 (2 overs): Anjali Sarvani comes into the attack. Meghana hits her for two back to back boundaries. One past point and the other, an edge that runs away past slip through short third. She’s looking more confident today, is Meghana and she doesn’t stop there. Two more boundaries follow off Anjali’s bowling - she dances down to drive one through mid off and sends the next one in similar fashion past a fielder diving at midoff. 17 runs from this over for Gujarat.
GG 3/0 (1 over): Rajeshwari Gayakwad opens the bowling for the Warriorz. There’s a slip in place. Gayakwad keeps her line tight Just three runs come off it and the Giants have negotiated the spinner safely. Dunkley almost backed into the stumps there in the middle of that over but no harm done.
Meghana and Sophia Dunkley take guard for the Giants. Can today be different from yesterday for the girls in orange.
PLAYING XI
Mithali Raj
Mithali Raj:I had a lot of work to do today. A lot of players were nervous and it showed. A lot of plans we made, we were not able to execute. We want to keep the basics simple for this game. It is a blow to lose Mooney. She is an in-form player and very experienced. She was not able to play because of injury. We need to see who can essay the role we picked her for.
7pm: Gujarat has won the toss and opted to bat. Garth, Dunkley and Sushma Verma come in. No Shabnim Ismail for the Warriorz.
UPDATE FROM THE GUJARAT CAMP: Sneh Rana will captain the Gujarat Giants in Beth Mooney’s absence.
PREVIEW:
UP Warriorz comes in with a squad brimming with Indian talent. Led by Alyssa Healy, the team has international stars like Sophie Ecclestone and Shabnim Ismail alongside Indian internationals like Deepti Sharma and Rajeshwari Gayakwad. A number of India’s U19 World Cup winners also find themselves in this UP side - including ace batter Shweta Sehrawat and bowler Parshavi Chopra.
The Warriorz go up against a shell-shocked Gujarat Giants team which fell to a mammoth 143-run loss to Mumbai Indians in the tournament opener on Saturday. MI scored 207 quite comfortably with captain Beth Mooney, who doesn’t have too much captaincy experience under her belt, struggling to rally her troops. Gujarat used far too many bowlers and not all could nail their line and length. To add to their hardships, Mooney went out injured in the first over of the chase. From there, the chase was a shambolic affair with GG folding for just 64.
Giants will seek redemption but come in with a very unsettled strategy and go up against one of the most balanced teams (in terms of Indian and foreign talent too) on paper.
6pm: The players have arrived at the DY Patil Stadium
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