Gujarat Giants comfortably overcome sloppy UP Warriorz

Sophie Devine's all-round effort (50 & 2-16) and Rajeshwari Gayakwad's spell of 3 for 16 paved the way for Gujarat Giants to return to winning ways in the Women's Premier League. They ended UP Warriorz's two-match winning streak, beating the Meg Lanning-led side for the second time this season and moved to second on the points table with a 45-run win in Vadodara.

Put in to bat, Giants made a solid start with Danielle Wyatt-Hodge, playing her first match of the season, cracking three boundaries early. Her stay lasted only eight balls, but Beth Mooney (38) steadied the innings with Anushka Sharma, Ash Gardner, and Devine for a brief period.

A bit scratchy this season, Mooney couldn't accelerate as desired. Just as she seemed about to cut loose with a couple of boundaries off Chloe Tryon, she threw her wicket away in the 13th over, mistiming a shot to mid-off.

Having raced to 38 for 1 within four overs, the scoring rate slowed. With Warriorz striking at regular intervals, Giants were 93 for 4 in the 13th over. Devine measured her attack even in the death overs, but with wickets falling regularly at the other end, Giants couldn't find the required pace. However, Devine clubbed a couple of sixes in the last over, which yielded 16 runs, to register her half-century and help Giants to a competitive 153 for 8.

In response, Warriorz struggled. Kiran Navgire fell for another duck, stumped off Renuka Singh. The onus fell again on Meg Lanning and Phoebe Litchfield to control the innings. It was going well till the fifth over when Lanning missed a pull to a delivery that didn't rise as anticipated and was stumped similarly to Navgire.

Litchfield, with her range of strokes, kept the scoreboard ticking. Even as Harleen Deol struggled, at the time of the southpaw's dismissal in the eighth over playing a reverse sweep, Warriorz were very much in the hunt. But her dismissal triggered a collapse.

Gayakwad, returning to the XI, ripped through the middle order, sending back Deepti Sharma, Shweta Sehrawat, and S Asha in quick succession. By then, Harleen's innings was also cut short for a painful 12-ball three. Devine returned for her second spell and ran through the tail while Tryon attempted a solo fight. Warriorz were bundled out in the 18th over for 108.

Brief Scores: Gujarat Giants 153/8 in 20 overs (Sophie Devine 50, Beth Mooney 38; Kranti Gaud 2-18, Sophie Ecclestone 2-22) beat UP Warriorz 108 in 17.3 overs (Phoebe Litchfield 32, Chloe Tryon 30*; Rajeshwari Gayakwad 3-16, Sophie Devine 2-16) by 45 runs.