‘Spin it, to win it’ was the mantra for UP Warriorz, led by Sophie Ecclestone (4-0-20-3), before Grace Harris’ unbeaten fifty (60, 33b, 9x4, 2x6) powered it to a six-wicket win over Gujarat Giants in the Women’s Premier League game at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday.
Chasing 143 never looked like a difficult challenge for Warriorz. The openers, Alyssa Healy and Kiran Navgire, got off to a good start, taking the Uttar Pradesh team past 40 in the first four overs.
Just when Warriorz seemed to be running away in the match, the Giants hit back with two quick wickets. First, Navgire fell to Tanuja Kanwar, and then a set Healy was castled by Kathryn Bryce on 33.
Harris and Chamari Athapaththu took the chase forward and put on a 36-run stand for the third wicket, where the Sri Lankan was at her fluent best. She struck four boundaries before holing out to Laura Wolvaardt off Tanuja’s bowling.
Meghna Singh dismissed Shweta Sehrawat for a seven-ball two to give some hope to Giants’ fans, but an unbeaten 53-run stand between Deepti Sharma and Harris took Warriorz past the finish line with 26 balls to spare.
READ: UP Warriorz vs Gujarat Giants match highlights
Earlier, the spinners capitalised on a turning track to help UPW restrict GG to 142 for five after choosing to bowl.
Wolvaardt used Anjali Sarvani’s pace and exploited the short off-side boundary, hitting her for three back-to-back fours.
Skipper Beth Mooney, who had two poor performances with the bat, showed the right intent at the start. She stepped out to Rajeshwari Gayakwad and smashed a straight four.
She then welcomed Ecclestone with a boundary, executing a flawless reverse lap, as Giants got off to a brisk start.
But, as the openers looked to change gears, Ecclestone dismissed Mooney, who was caught by Harris at mid-off.
Ecclestone picked up another, removing Wolvaardt in similar fashion. This time, it was Athapaththu who caught the South African at mid-off.
Harris and Ecclestone bowled in tandem, choking the batters and stopping the boundaries.
Healy’s ploy to operate with the off-spinners paid off, as Giants could only manage 29 in six overs after scoring 33 in the first four.
Harleen Deol had another underwhelming outing, scoring 18 off 24 before holing out to Anjali off Rajeshwari’s bowling.
Ashleigh Gardner (30, 17b, 4x4, 1x6) provided the impetus, her 52-run association with Phoebe Litchfield powering Giants close to the 150-mark, but it was never enough once Harris took charge, condemning Giants to their third straight loss.
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