Devine, Gayakwad star as Giants seal comfortable win
Giants went to second on the points table after consigning UP Warriorz to their third loss in a row
Giants went to second on the points table after consigning UP Warriorz to their third loss in a row
Scorer: Harshith Gowda | Commentator: Ashish Pant
And breathe! What a game that was, and in the end, GG defended the lowest score this season and zoomed to second spot on the points table after starting the game on fifth position. If you missed any of the action, Suds' report will have you covered. Thanks for tuning in. Until next time, this is me Ashish Pant signing off on behalf of Harshith. Ciao!
Rajeshwari Gayakwad is the player of the match: I am playing after a long time, and this feels great as I have done so well. Didn't do anything different, just bowled to my strengths. The support staff has backed me a lot and just did what I was asked. The wicket helped me a lot and I was successful. Whenever I play against Lanning, I want to get her out. I didn't get her out but I got Deepti out and I am very happy about it. I focused a lot on myself and have backed myself a lot. Ashleigh Gardner: We scrapped well with the bat. We took the momentum from the batting innings to the bowling innings. 150 was a defendable total. The bowlers put them under pressure. [Is it different from Navi Mumbai to here?] It is very different. Red soil to black soil is a stark difference. There is lesser bounce and is slow. The batters have to adjust. Making sure with the ball that we are hitting the stumps. We just spoke about fighting. We were all on the same points so it was like restarting our campaign. So we just wanted to stay positive. We are trying to implement things and trying to do the good things for a long time. [On Gayakwad] She had an impact and I am so happy for her. She got the opportunity and grabbed it with both hands. She turned the momentum for us. She knows the conditions and I leaned on her experience.
Presentation time
Sophie Devine: Was an interesting game of cricket. I though 150 was competitive. We knew the batters UP have in their line-up. When we got the two big wickets, it was about hanging on and holding our nerves. We have got flexibility to bring Danni in the side. It was no biggie to slot down to five. The way that Gayakwad came and performed was outstanding. The way she deceived the batter with flight and pace was fantastic.
Sophie Devine passes the orange cap to Litchfield and Litchfield hands the purple cap to Devine.
Meg Lanning: Both innings seem to take a while. We had our chance, we put ourselves in a nice position with the ball, but things didn't fall into place. Full credit to GG, they stuck it out and on that sort of a wicket, that's what matters. We planned for all their batters. We knew what we were coming against. Sophie [Devine] was the difference in the end. [On Gaud] With the new ball, she can get a bit of movement. She has confidence and she has been excellent for us. Plenty of time to think about things. Would have been nice to go into the break with a win, but we will take some time to rest and reset. We need to win both games.
10.58pm Runs, wickets, a run-out. What a game this has been for Devine who has been terrific all night. So has Gayakwad whose return to GG is successful as she finishes with three wickets. A chase of 154 was expected to be straightforward but the GG bowlers did not let UPW get away at all. Lanning and Navgire fell to unfortunate dismissals and once Litchfield fell, GG ran UPW ragged. Gayakwad was excellent with her flight and change of pace as she picked up 3 for 16, while Renuka and Devine picked up two wickets each. Only three UPW batters managed to reach double figures as UPW collapsed to 108 all out. This total of 153 is the lowest defended this season
Manoj: "This loss is going to hurt UPW NRR very badly"
Malli : "From last place to second place. wow!"
Birud: "Spare a thought for Tryon left hanging there, though she should have farmed the strike. "
K Gaud b Devine 1 (7m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50
Devine to bowl the 18th. Kranti Gaud on strike. UPW need 49 runs in 18 balls.
Ankur: "they are not just losing it .. it will hurt the NRR too .. which will be critical !"
The conditions were against UP Warriorz in their first game in Vadodara, but they also showed rigidity in selection and planning, which they will have to think about going forward
Sadhu did not feature in any matches this season for Gujarat Giants
Rajeshwari Gayakwad replaced fellow left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwar for GG
Giants went to second on the points table after consigning UP Warriorz to their third loss in a row
One of the teams will finally emerge from the traffic jam on the WPL points table to get to six points