Gujarat Giants will be looking to bounce back from their crushing defeat in the Women's Premier League season opener when they face the UP Warriorz in Vadodara on Sunday. They will be hoping that their bowlers will step up and complement the batters, while their fielding shows significant improvement.
In their opening match against the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Gujarat Giants put on a commanding batting display, setting a 202-run target. However, their bowling and fielding let them down, leading to a disappointing loss. Despite having six bowling options, they failed to contain RCB's batters, and key dropped catches proved costly.
Richa Ghosh was dropped on the first ball she faced, and the India wicketkeeper-batter made Gujarat pay dearly for the mistake. She smashed an impressive 64 off just 26 balls, including four sixes and seven fours, guiding RCB to a sensational victory.
Gujarat's Tanuja Kanwar also dropped Ellyse Perry when she was on 2, and the Australian all-rounder made most on the reprieve, hitting a 34-ball 57 to anchor RCB's record chase.
Earlier, Gujarat Giants had put on a fine batting show, with fifties from former skipper Beth Mooney (56) and incumbent leader Ashleigh Gardner (79 not out), propelling them to 201/5 on a fresh surface at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara.
The opening game of the third WPL season on Friday not only registered the highest match aggregate in WPL history but also witnessed the highest-ever run chase. This suggests that batters will continue to dominate, and bowlers will need to adapt and evolve their strategies.
With only one day to regroup, the Giants will need to find ways to execute better with the ball and in the field to avoid another defeat.
On the other hand, UP Warriorz would take the field under a
Deepti has been a vital cog in the Indian teams across formats but the 27-year-old veteran hasn't held any leadership role with the national side in nearly a decade.
On their part, spin bowling could be described as UP Warriorz's biggest strength this season after the team which finished fourth in the five-team league last year added Australia's Alana King to their roster which already boasts of England's Sophie Ecclestone.
King had a successful run in the women's Ashes taking nine wickets in the only Tests as well as 17 more wickets in the limited-overs series. Along with King and Ecclestone, the Warriorz have India's Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Deepti, Gouher Sultana as well as others in Sri Lanka's Chamari Athapaththu and Grace Harris.
Their overall firepower pits Warriorz as the favourites for this clash given they have the formidable trio of Tahlia McGrath, Harris and Athapaththu to pick from in the batting.
The Indian talent strength is also impressive with the likes of young batters Uma Chetry, Vrinda Dinesh, Arushi Goel and the experienced Kiran Navgire in the mix, while among bowlers Saima Thakor will be looking to add a few wickets to her kitty after a dry run in the series against West Indies and Ireland.
Teams:
Gujarat Giants: Ashleigh Gardner (captain), Bharti Fulmali, Laura Wolvaardt, Phoebe Litchfield, Simran Shaikh, Danielle Gibson, Dayalan Hemalatha, Deandra Dottin, Harleen Deol, Sayali Satghare, Tanuja Kanwar, Beth Mooney (w/k), Kashvee Gautam, Mannat Kashyap, Meghna Singh, Prakashika Naik, Priya Mishra, Shabnam Shakil.
UP Warriorz: Deepti Sharma (captain), Arushi Goel, Kiran Navgire, Shweta Sehrawat, Vrinda Dinesh, Chamari Athapaththu, Chinelle Henry, Grace Harris, Kranti Goud, Poonam Khemnar, Sophie Ecclestone, Tahlia McGrath, Uma Chetry (w/k), Alana King, Anjali Sarvani, Gouher Sultana, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Saima Thakor.
Match: Starts at 7.30pm IST.
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