UP Warriorz qualified for the playoffs of Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023, and subsequently, obliterated Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Giants’ hopes, with a three-wicket win over the Giants on 20 March. Chasing a big target of 179 runs here at the Brabourne Stadium, Alyssa Healy’s team crossed the finish line with one delivery to spare.
Gujarat Giants had exactly the start they would have desired, with the first couple of overs yielding 26 runs. Having scored two consecutive half-centuries before coming into this fixture, Laura Wolvaardt looked in decent nick again, with Sophia Dunkley supporting her from the other end.
The partnership concluded in the fifth over, as Anjali Sarvani’s delivery sent Wolvaardt packing.
Whilst the groundwork was laid by the seamer, UP managed to peg the Giants back completely in the next over, where spinner Rajeshwari Gayawad dismissed both Dunkley and Harleen Deol.
At 50/3, Sneh Rana’s team required stability more than anything else, which was provided by the pair of Dayalan Hemalatha and Ashleigh Gardner. They initially dealt predominantly in singles, before a 12-run over off Gayakwad turned the game on its head.
Hemalatha, the batter from Chennai who had not breached the 30-run mark in her previous WPL outings, was seen at the top of her potential, bringing a commendable half-century in the 16th over, with a maximum off Deepti Sharma’s bowling.
Her knock ended soon after the milestone was conquered, but this time around, it was Gardner’s turn to propel his team’s total. The most expensive overseas player in the league, Gardner brought up her half-century in the 18th match, albeit, the Warriorz made somewhat of a comeback by picking up a couple of wickets and conceding merely 12 runs in the last two overs.
Contrary to their opposition, UP had a bockety beginning to their batting job, with skipper Alyssa Healy departing in only the second over, before Kiran Navgire lost her wicket just five deliveries later. Opening batter, Devika Vaidya could not come to her team’s rescue either, as she recorded her fourth consecutive single-digit return after being dismissed by Tanuja Kanwar in the fifth over.
Odds were stacked against the Warriorz, but with backs to the wall, Australian duo Tahlia McGrath and Sophie Ecclestone launched a retaliation bid like none other. They took the team’s tally to 82 runs after 10 overs, before breaching the 100-run mark in the 12th over.
The 78-run fourth-wicket stand ended in the 14th over, with McGrath departing shortly after scoring her third half-century of the competition. Whilst the breakthrough sparked hope, Gujarat were truly and thoroughly back in the game when Deepti was dismissed only eight deliveries later.
The required run rate had, albeit briefly, soared north of 10 runs per overs, before consecutive 11-run overs off Kanwar and Gardner’s bowling tipped the scales back in the Warriors’ favour. Harris’ dismissal in the penultimate delivery of the penultimate over, putting an end to his exemplary 72-run knock, did manage to bring Gujarat back in the hunt for one last instance.
However, Sophie Ecclestone held on to her nerves expertly well to take her team over the line in 19.5 overs. With this victory, UP Warriorz became the third team to qualify for the playoffs, resulting in the subsequent elimination of Gujarat Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
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