New Delhi: Gujarat Giants skipper Ashleigh Gardner led from the front with contributions with both bat and ball to guide them to a six-wicket victory over UP Warriorz, their first win in the Women’s Premier League in Vadodara on Sunday.
Gardner claimed two wickets as UP were restricted to 143/9 and then hit her second consecutive half century as Gujarat notched up their first win of the tournament after going down in their opening match to Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Chasing 144, Gujarat slumped to 22/2 with opener Beth Mooney and Dayalan Hemalata departing early but Gardner’s 52 runs off 32 balls pulled them out of trouble.
Gardner added 55 runs off 42 balls with Laura Wolvaardt (22) to settle the nerves as she struck five fours and three sixes before departing in the 12th over.
But by that time Gujarat were well on their way to win as Harleen Deol (34) and Dottin (33) added 58 runs off 37 balls to complete the victory with 12 balls still to play.
Priya impresses
Earlier, Priya Mishra’s claimed three wickets in Gujarat Giants’ disciplined bowling performance to tie up UP Warriorz to 143/9.
Gujarat won the toss and opted to bowl and Priya sparkled with 4-0-25-3 as she received support from skipper Ashleigh Gardner (2/39), Deandra Dottin (2/34), and Kashvee Gautam (1/15).
Thus UP batters could never really hit top gear and were denied to put up a big score despite skipper Deepti Sharma top-scoring with a 27-ball 39.
Uma Chetry (24) and Shweta Sehrawat (16) made useful middle-order contributions while Alana King (19) and Saima Thakor (15) combined to add 26 runs off 13 balls for a for a late burst as UP had a score to bowl at.
Sent into bat, UP were reduced to 22 for 2 in the third over as Kiran Navgire was adjudged leg before wicket by Dottin and Vrinda Dinesh was bowled by Gardner.
Chetry and Deepti were kept under a leash by Gujarat’s accurate bowlers team as UPW managed only 41 for 2 in the powerplay overs. But still they put together a 50-run partnership off 43 balls after which Dottin dismissed Chetry.
Mishra then claimed two wickets in three balls, dismissing Australians Tahlia McGrath and Grace Harris to leaving UP reeling at 78 for 5 in the 11th over.
Despite Sehrawat and Deepti valiant efforts, Gardner’s superb catch to remove for Deepti prevented UP from posting a big score.
After an exciting second encounter of the WPL 2025, let’s take a look at the updated points table.
| Teams | Mat | Won | Lost | Tied | NR | Pts | NRR |
| Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.869 |
| Gujarat Giants | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.118 |
| Delhi Capitals | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.05 |
| Mumbai Indians | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.50 |
| UP Warriorz | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.85 |
Ashleigh Gardner claimed two wickets and struck her second consecutive half century as Gujarat Giants notched up their first win of the WPL Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
