An improved fielding effort and a rounded performance with bat and ball helped Gujarat Giants beat UP Warriorz by six wickets to register its first points of the Women’s Premier League’s (WPL) 2025 season.
Ashleigh Gardner and Deandra Dottin’s power-hitting capped a clinical performance which began with a fiery spell from Priya Mishra. Dottin and Harleen Deol’s fifty-run stand helped the home side chase 144 with two overs to spare.
Deandra Dottin of Gujarat Giants play a shot during match 3 of the Women’s Premier League 2025 (WPL) between The Gujarat Giants and The UP Warriorz held at the BCA stadium, Vadodara, India on the 16th February 2025.
| Photo Credit:
Sportzpics for WPL
Deandra Dottin of Gujarat Giants play a shot during match 3 of the Women’s Premier League 2025 (WPL) between The Gujarat Giants and The UP Warriorz held at the BCA stadium, Vadodara, India on the 16th February 2025.
| Photo Credit:
Sportzpics for WPL
The Giants didn’t get off to the best start, losing two wickets for as many runs on the board before Laura Wolvaardt and skipper Gardner turned things around with a fifty-run stand for the third wicket.
GG vs UPW Highlights: As it happened
Gardner’s dominance with the bat continued as she brought up her second consecutive fifty, this one in just 28 balls.
Grace Harris removed compatriot Beth Mooney for a golden duck and Sophie Ecclestone outsmarted Wolvaardt and D. Hemalatha to peg things back in favour of the Warriorz, but the Giants got home comfortably.
Warriorz put on a disappointing show with the bat in its first game of the season. The side lacked contributions from its openers, Kiran Navgire and Vrinda Dinesh, who fell in successive overs.
Skipper Deepti Sharma forged a fifty-run partnership with keeper Uma Chetry to stabilise the Warriorz inning. Uma found the gaps to keep the boundaries coming before holing out to Priya at mid-on. Deepti could only watch her team collapse from the other end.
Priya Mishra of Gujarat Giants
| Photo Credit:
Sportzpics for WPL
Priya Mishra of Gujarat Giants
| Photo Credit:
Sportzpics for WPL
Priya struck gold in her second over, removing dangerous batters Tahlia McGrath and Harris in the same over. McGrath was on the receiving end of a tough leg before call, with the third umpire ruling that the ball hit her pad before her bat. Harris lasted only two balls before Priya’s flighted delivery crashed into the stumps.
The 20-year-old finished her spell with the prized wicket of Deepti. A running catch by Gardner at mid-off brought the curtains down on a composed 27-ball 39. Shweta Sehrawat and Sophie Ecclestone couldn’t deliver the goods either with the bat. Saima Thakor and Alana King forged a resistance, smashing four fours and the only six of the innings. The 20-run final over helped the Warriorz manage a respectable 143 which just wasn’t enough in the end.