Ecclestone three-for, Harris blitz hand Gujarat Giants third defeat

Grace Harris’  third consecutive fifty against Gujarat Giants left Beth Mooney’s side winless after three matches and pushed UP Warriorz level with the other four sides on points. Harris’ unbeaten 60 off 33 balls included nine fours and two sixes and turned what was becoming a tense contest into a one-sided affair. Warriorz became the sixth side to win chasing at the M Chinnaswamy in eight matches.

In the end, Giants will reflect on a batting line-up with plenty of big names but not enough big runs. Though they put on their highest total of the tournament so far, none of their batters got more than Phoebe Litchfield’s 35 and they were kept quiet by a wily Warriorz attack.

Warriorz only bowled one over of seam and it was from Anjali Sarvani in the powerplay. It cost 13 runs and prompted a squeeze by spin, which was successful except for three overs. Between the 15th and 18th over, Giants scored 40 runs as Litchfield and Ashleigh Gardner shared a 52-run stand for the fifth wicket.

The chase was off to a speedy start thanks to Alyssa Healy’s 21-ball 33 and then all Warriorz as Harris played her power game to secure victory.

At the top, Giants tried a third combination in as many games and got their best result. Laura Wolvaardt playing her first game of the WPL season, opened with Beth Mooney and they shared a 40-run stand. It was an improvement on 3 between Mooney and Veda Krishnamurthy and 11 between Mooney and Harleen Deol. Wolvaardt unfurled back-to-back drives through the offside in the second over to get things going and demonstrated a strong leg-side game too.

Later in the innings, Litchfield, coming in at No.4, played to reputation and gave a meandering innings some urgency. After single-digit scores in her first two matches, she was put down on 19 and went on to hit the biggest six of the innings, when she slammed Deepti Sharma over deep mid-wicket. Litchfield and Ashleigh Gardner shared the Giants’ first 50-run partnership of the tournament and gave their attack something to bowl at.