All-round Giants stave off Litchfield's onslaught to emerge victorious

Skipper Ashleigh Gardner hit a sparkling half-century (65) and Georgia Wareham (27* off 10 and 2 for 30) delivered with both bat and ball as Gujarat Giants made a winning start to WPL 2026. Phoebe Litchfield (78 off 40) for UP Warriorz put on a show in the run chase but the Giants managed to hold out for a narrow victory by 10 runs.

After losing the toss, the Giants put on a terrific display with the bat even though their overseas openers departed inside the PowerPlay. Beth Mooney stuttered for a 12-ball 13 but Sophie Devine was at her best, hammering boundaries at will before miscuing one to fall for a 20-ball 38.

While the Warriorz would have hoped for some respite after those two wickets, Giants took complete control of the contest. Anushka Sharma, making an impression on her WPL debut, joined forces with Gardner to add 103 for the third wicket to put the bowling attack under a lot of pressure. Anushka was the one who took the initiative early by finding a few boundaries with Gardner biding her time, batting on 18 off 19 at one point.

However, the release came in the 13th over for the Australian when she punished Kranti Gaud for three fours in a single over after which she took charge. She smashed consecutive sixes in the very next over before taking on Sophie Ecclestone for another boundary and a six to bring up a stunning fifty. Deandra Dottin finally put an end to the century partnership which was then immediately followed by Ecclestone breaching Gardner's defence but Wareham and Bharti Fulmali combined to clear the ropes five times in the last two overs to power the total beyond 200.

Wareham then starred with the ball as well as she turned the game around in the space of three deliveries just when the Warriorz appeared to be gaining momentum. Kiran Navgire was cleaned up in the very first over by Renuka Singh Thakur but Litchfield was in a destructive mood right from the outset. Meg Lanning, leading her new team, struck a few boundaries to get going but was also pegged back with a lot of dot balls that ensured the Warriorz didn't run away in the PowerPlay.

Litchfield then pushed the ante by taking on Devine before Wareham's double wicket over that saw her send back Lanning and Harleen Deol to put the Giants on top again. Things went from bad to worse when a leading edge from Deepti Sharma saw her chip one back to Renuka in tame fashion in the very next over as the batting side went from 73 for 1 to 74 for 4. Undeterred, Litchfield continued to bat in positive fashion and found an ideal partner in the form of Shweta Sehrawat who hit two sixes and a four off her first six deliveries. Litchfield at the other end managed to bring up a 24-ball fifty and then took on Wareham for back-to-back sixes as the momentum slowly swung again.

The strategic timeout finally brought some relief for the bowling side as Rajeshwari Gayakwad redeemed herself despite being smashed for a six by bagging the key wicket of Sehrawat. At that point, the Warriorz had their task cut out, needing 65 from the final five overs with a well-set Litchfield and Deandra Dottin out in the middle. However, their hopes were crushed in an instant when Litchfield found the fielder at the deep, followed by a tight over from Wareham to round off her spell. Dottin then clubbed Gardner for a six, only to perish next ball. Even though Asha Sobhana entertained slight hopes at the start of the penultimate over, the Giants managed to secure the win in the end.

Brief scores: Gujarat Giants 207/4 in 20 overs (Ashleigh Gardner 65, Anushka Sharma 44; Sophie Ecclestone 2/32) beat UP Warriorz 197/8 in 20 overs (Phoebe Litchfield 78; Renuka Singh Thakur 2/25, Georgia Wareham 2/30) by 10 runs.