WPL 2024, bottom-placed Gujarat Giants beat UP Warriorz: Key stats
Bottom-placed Gujarat Giants claimed their second win of the 2024 Women's Premier League (WPL) season after beating UP Warriorz. The Giants successfully defended 152 as Deepti Sharma's incredible 88* went in vain. Deepti and Poonam Khemnar shared a century stand after the Warriorz were down to 35/5. Earlier, Beth Mooney played a captain's knock for GT. However, they suffered a batting collapse eventually.
A look at the match summary
Laura Wolvaardt and Beth Mooney added a 60-run opening stand after GT elected to bat. However, they lost successive wickets and were down to 105/5. Sophie Ecclestone, Chamari Athapaththu, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, and Deepti derailed their batting line-up. In response, UPW had a pale start, and were reduced to 35/5 in no time. Deepti and Khemnar took them past 140 but fell eight runs short.
Mooney slams her third WPL fifty
As mentioned, Mooney added 60 runs with Wolvaardt for the opening wicket. Although the latter departed after scoring 43, Mooney held her end. She kept on losing batting partners, having stayed till the end. Mooney slammed an unbeaten 74 off 52 balls, a knock laced with 10 fours and a six. It was her third half-century in the WPL.
Fifty in third successive game
Mooney scored a half-century in her third successive WPL game. She smashed an unbeaten 85 against Royal Challengers Bangalore, now the highest WPL score for a GGW batter. Mooney then smashed 66 against Mumbai Indians.
A counter-attacking knock from Deepti
Despite being on the losing side, Deepti played her best WPL knock. She added 109 runs with Khemnar after the Warriorz were down to 35/5. While Khemnar played second fiddle, Deepti counter-attacked. The latter smashed an unbeaten 88 off 60 balls (9 fours and 4 fours). Deepti smashed two sixes in the final over as UPW required 26 runs. However, they fell short.
Second-highest WPL score by an Indian
Deepti now owns the second-highest score by an Indian in the WPL. She surpassed Shafali Verma, who scored 84 against Royal Challengers Bangalore last season. The former is now only behind Harmanpreet Kaur in this regard. The Mumbai Indians skipper slammed a record-breaking 95* against Gujarat Giants earlier this season. This is the third-highest score in the tournament.
Shabnam Shakil: Player of the Match
Although Deepti's all-round skills made headlines, youngster Shabnam Shakil was adjudged the Player of the Match. The 16-year-old medium-pacer picked up three wickets and conceded just 11 runs in four overs. She gave away only two boundaries in her entire spell. Shakil's tally included as many as 19 dot balls. UPW's Ecclestone was the only other bowler with a three-fer in the match.