Gardner and Wareham lead Giants to opening-game victory
Phoebe Litchfield's 40-ball 78 wasn't quite enough for UP Warriorz in a chase of 208
Phoebe Litchfield's 40-ball 78 wasn't quite enough for UP Warriorz in a chase of 208
Scorer: Sudeep Poojar | Commentator: Shashwat Kumar
6:38pm That will be all from us for this game. But don't go too far away because the Mumbai Indians, who lost to RCB yesterday, will be in action again tonight, against a Delhi Capitals side now led by Jemimah Rodrigues. Hop over for all the live updates from that game. Until next time, from Chandan, Sudeep and myself (Shashwat), it is goodbye!
Georgia Wareham, Player of the Match: Awesome start to the tournament. These tournaments are about momentum. For everyone to chip in with all aspects, it was awesome. It was a pretty flat wicket, so the bowlers did a good job (to get these many wickets). Nice to get a couple of wickets (myself). (On the Lanning dismissal) Pretty certain it was pad-first. Moons (Mooney) thought so too. Meg was a really key wicket at that point.
Ashleigh Gardner, Gujarat Giants captain: It was a fantastic game for everyone who came out and watched. Knew we needed more than 200 (around the 12-over mark). Plenty of learnings with bat and ball. Fielded well and that was probably the difference. She (Anushka Sharma) is such a talent. To spend time out in the middle...she keeps it simple and for a young player, to be brave enough to do that, amazing to be at the other end. (On bowling Gayakwad after the timeout) We were searching for overs a bit. I didn't bowl overly well. I can throw the ball to anyone (and have confidence in them because of the several good options we bave). As a captain and bowler, it gets difficult to set fields (when Litchfield is going). We had to take lots of wickets, which we did and nice we have a W on the board.
Here is Sampath with a stat from today's game: 21 sixes in the GG vs UPW match, the most for any women's T20 match. The previous highest was 19 sixes during Sixers vs Stars, WBBL 2017-18 and RCB vs DC, WPL 2024.
Meg Lanning, UP Warriorz captain: It was a great game. Lots of positives, although would've loved to win. (On the bowling and fielding) The Giants batted extremely well. Did not execute as well as we would have liked. Tough wicket to bowl on. Always things to improve. We have a few for the next one but still plenty to like. (On Ecclestone) Most of the bowlers can bowl at any point. She is so experienced, knows her game and nice to play with her on the same side. Very good cricket from both sides. It was good for batting. Need to find a way with the ball to restrict as well as we can.
Renuka Singh: My focus is to perform, irrespective of the team I am playing for. I have played a lot of cricket here, so I have an idea. I have worked on a few things, like the yorker and slower one, and I am backing that. Knew we had to put in hard work because this is a batting track, and knew whichever teams would play better would win.
6:15pm A stark contrast from the game yesterday, where run-scoring, for a significant chunk, was tough. Today, the runs flowed and they flowed rather superbly for Litchfield, who dazzled on her way to a maiden WPL half-century. Unfortunately for UPW, support for her could not arrive quickly enough and by the time Asha got going at the death, the Warriorz were reduced to damage control.
The Giants, for most of their bowling innings, seemed in control. Wareham was the pick of the bunch among the spinners, with Renuka also starring, both with the new ball and through the middle. Devine and Gardner were more expensive than usual but both got crucial wickets, and the Giants will be happy with how they generally coped with adversity.
Hypocaust: "UP Warriorz hit more boundaries (20x4,11x6) than Gujarat Giants (20x4, 10x6), but the numbers of dots faced cost them (UPW 53 dots faced, GG 35 dots).."
S Ecclestone c Gautam b Devine 11 (12m 8b 2x4 0x6) SR: 137.5
27 off 6. If UPW win it from here, we will have seen something very special. Devine to bowl
She says she loves to "just win," and she showed that with a memorable WPL debut last week
Warriorz opener is growing her power game while retaining her ability to manipulate fields
Gujarat Giants' new No. 3 showed just why three teams bid furiously for her at the WPL auction
Phoebe Litchfield's 40-ball 78 wasn't quite enough for UP Warriorz in a chase of 208
The WPL had told the franchises before the auction that if any team picked her, they would not be allowed a replacement