The Gujarat Giants secured a thrilling 10-run victory over the UP Warriorz in the opening game of the WPL, with Ashleigh Gardner and Beth Wareham leading the charge. Gardner's half-century set the tone, and Wareham's explosive finish sealed the deal.
Gardner, the Giants' captain, and Anushka Sharma, a Madhya Pradesh batter making her WPL debut, showcased their batting prowess. They added 103 runs for the third wicket in just 10.3 overs, with Anushka's strokeplay against spin being particularly impressive. She danced down the track, lofting Ecclestone inside-out between cover and point for four.
Wareham, who walked in halfway through the 17th over, made her mark with an onslaught against Deandra Dottin, hitting three sixes in the 19th over. Her performance could have been even better if Kranti Gaud had held on to a simple chance at cover point in the same over.
The UP Warriorz, led by Phoebe Litchfield, kept the game competitive. Litchfield's 40-ball 78 kept them in the hunt, but her dismissal proved decisive. Warriorz managed to stem some net-run-rate damage with a neat cameo from Asha Sobhana.
Sophie Devine briefly wrested the initiative in the powerplay, taking down Deepti Sharma in the fourth over. However, a double-strike kept Giants in check. Beth Mooney was undone by a Sophie Ecclestone arm-ball in the fifth over, while Devine holed out to deep midwicket off Shikha Pandey for a 20-ball 38 in the sixth.
The Giants' net-run-rate improved significantly from overs 13 to 15, with Gardner carving Kranti Gaud for three boundaries and launching three sixes off Asha and Ecclestone. This burst carried Gardner to her half-century off just 30 balls.
Despite a strong start, the UP Warriorz faced a collapse. They lost Kiran Navgire in the first over, to Renuka Singh, but Litchfield's strokeplay consigned Meg Lanning to the background for much of their 70-run second-wicket stand. Warriorz lost three wickets in four deliveries, leading to a full-blown collapse.
Shweta Sehrawat and Litchfield kept Warriorz's hopes alive, with Sehrawat launching Renuka down the ground for six. Litchfield's progress to her half-century in 29 balls was entertaining, as she swept, reverse-swept, paddled, and moved across the stumps to mow length deliveries into the leg side.
The fifth-wicket stand of 69 between Sehrawat and Litchfield proved to be the clincher. Litchfield's dismissal, soon after Sehrawat's, reduced the margin of defeat, and Asha Sobhana's cameo from then on merely reduced the margin of defeat.
