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Women's Premier League 2024 Cricket

WPL 2024: UP-W vs GUJ-W Match Highlights – Grace Harris leads UP Warriors to easy win against Gujarat Giants by six wickets

Grace Harris with her unbeaten 60 helped UP Warriorz win their second game of the season against Gujarat Giants by 6 wickets during the Women's Premier League 2024 game on Friday.

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Sarah Andrew
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WPL 2024 (Source-Twitter)

After their smashing win against Mumbai Indians, Alyssa Healy and her side won their second game of the season. On Friday UP Warriorz beat Gujarat Giants by six wickets to go third in the table. The win also meant that defending champions Mumbai Indians are down to fourth in the table. 

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It was UP Warriorz who won the toss and chose to bowl first. Both teams made changes as Laura Wovvaadt and Mannat Kashyap came in for Lea Tahuhu and Veda Krishnamurthy. For UP it was the debut for Sri Lankan legendary batter Chamari Athapaththu who came in for Tahlia McGrath. 

Batting first Gujarat Giants found the going tough against a disciplined UP bowling unit. Grace Harris was the hero with the bat as she helped her side overcome a tricky situation to win their second game of the season. 

Key Moments – 

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-    Gujarat Giants get off to a decent start 

-    UP bowlers make a strong reply 

-    Middle-order holds firm 

-    Alyssa Healy gives UP flying start

-    Tanuja Kanwar picks two key wickets

-    Grace Harris scores an unbeaten half-century 

Gujarat Giants get off to a decent start 

Put into bat first, Gujarat Giants got off to a decent start in their third game of the Women’s Premier League 2024 game. Beth Mooney and Laura Wolvaardt added 40 runs for the opening wicket inside 6 overs. Skipper Mooney was the first to go when she was out for 16 to Sophie Ecclestone. 

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UP bowlers come up with a strong reply –

 

For once it looked like UP bowlers were set to be put under pressure by Gujarat. It was Sophie Ecclestone who got her team the second wicket she had Wolvaardt out for 28. Harleeon Deol struggled to get going as she scored just 18 runs from 24 balls before falling to Rajeshwari Gayakwad. 

Gujarat Giants batting holds firm to score 142 – 

Phoebe Litchfield and Ashleigh Gardener added 52 runs for the 4th wicket in 31 balls. The two batters played with attacking intent and hit boundaries at will. Saima Thakor got the key wicket when she ran out Litchfield for 35. Ashleigh Gardner on the other scored 30 off 17 balls with 4 fours and a six to help her team reach a competitive total of 142. 

Alyssa Healy begins well with the bat – 

Australian star and UP Warriorz skipper Alyssa Healy didn’t want to waste the advantage given by her bowlers. The 33-year-old scored 33 runs off 21 balls with 7 hits to the fence to get her team going. Kiran Navgire who had scored a fifty versus Mumbai was a mute spectator in the 42-run opening stand. 

Tanuja Kanwar picks two key wickets – 

The introduction of Tanuja Kanwar changed the game as she dismissed Kiran Navgire. This was followed by Kathryn Bryce going past the defenses of Healy to make it 50 for 2. Chamari Athapaththu hit four boundaries in her 17-run knock before falling to Kanwar. Meghna Singh made it 90/4 when she bowled Shweta Sehrawat for just 2 to put UP on the back foot. 

Grace Harris and Deepti Sharma keep their calm to win the game – 

Just like the last game against Mumbai, it was the Grace Harris and Deepti Sharma duo that took the team home. The Australian all-rounder scored 60 not out from 33 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes. Deepti Sharma stayed not out on 17 from 11 balls with 3 hits to the fence. 

Final Analysis - 

UP Warriorz are now third in the table with Delhi at the top and RCB in second. Since Mumbai Indians has a negative run-rate there are fourth in the table. All the top four teams have four points with UP having played a game extra. Gujarat Giants are yet to win a game and have played three games so far. The big game on Saturday will see RCB take on MI while Gujarat and Delhi will lock horns on Sunday. Grace Harris was named the player of the match for her outstanding show with the bat. 

WPL Alyssa Healy