Bowlers, Gardner plot GG's comfortable win over UP Warriorz

Ashleigh Gardner scored her fourth 50-plus score in WPL and picked two wickets to combine with the rest of her bowlers to earn Gujarat Giants' their first two points of WPL 2025 with a win over UP Warriorz. This is Gujarat Giants' first successful run-chase in the tournament. Gardner, who started the season with a 37-ball 79 in the defeat to RCB in the season opener, smashed 52 off 32 in her team's chase of UPW's 143/9. Gardner's side was largely efficient with the ball earlier, with 20-year-old leg spinner Priya Mishra finishing with figures of 3 for 25, which included a double-wicket over.

The wooden spoon winners of last season started well with the ball once Gardner won the toss and asked UP Warriorz to bat. Deandra Dottin trapped Kiran Navgire in the second over after the latter made fiery start,scoring three early boundaries. Gardner brought herself on and struck right away, cleaning up Vrinda Dinesh who went for a sweep shot and missed. Uma Chetry and Deepti Sharma gave the Warriorz a quick move-on. Dottin returned to break the stand at the halfway stage with the wicket of Chetry. The young Mishra then dented the batting side further with the wickets of Tahlia McGrath and Grace Harris in the space of three deliveries. Mishra also saw the back of Deepti in the 15th over just after Warriorz went past the 100-run mark. Shweta Sehrawat (16 off 18), Alana King (19* off 14) and Saima Thakor (15 off 7) dragged their side to a respectable 143/9, but it wasn't enough.

Grace Harris and Sophie Ecclestone gave the Warriorz early hope of defending their total as Beth Mooney and Dayalan Hemalatha were dismissed for a duck each by the second over. But the Giants too had a stand that allowed them to recover from the early wreckage, through Laura Wolvaardt and Gardner. They quickly took the team past 50 runs in the eighth over but Ecclestone returned to knock back Wolvaardt's stumps to leave the chasing side down to 57/3. In the company of Harleen Deol, Gardner got to her fifty - becoming the first player to score a half-century and pick two wickets in the same game for the third time in WPL. From 67/3 in 10 overs, the batting duo used Alana King's over as a launch pad, hitting her for two fours and a six in a 17-run over.

Tahlia McGrath clipped Gardner's wings in the 12th over but Deandra Dottin walked out and soared away towards the total in an undefeated alliance worth 58 runs that took their side past the finish line. Dottin too, went after King, reducing the equation from 58 off 48 balls to 44 off 42. She then hit McGrath for two fours to further decimate what was required for her team to secure the two points. Deol threw her bat around too, as the pair completed the chase in the 13-run 18th over.

Brief Scores: UP Warriorz 143/9 in 20 overs (Deepti Sharma 39, Uma Chetry 24; Priya Mishra 3-25, Deandra Dottin 2-34) lost to Gujarat Giants 144/4 in 18 overs (Ashleigh Gardner 52, Harleen Deol 34*, Deandra Dottin 33*) by 6 wickets