Grace Harris, Ecclestone shine as UPW hand Gujarat their third straight defeat
The Gujarat Giants’ disappointing streak in the WPL 2024 continued as they suffered.
Their third consecutive defeat in the competition, losing to the UP Warriorz by 6 wickets on Friday, March 1. Led by Alyssa Healy, the Giants were restricted to setting a 143-run target, which the Warriorz easily chased down, courtesy of a heroic innings by Grace Harris.
Matchday 8 at the M Chinnaswammy Stadium in Bengaluru saw the Warriorz win the toss and follow the consistent trend of teams opting to chase in the WPL 2024. The first innings saw the Warriorz’s bowling attack, spearheaded by Sophie Ecclestone, emerge as the clear winners over the Giants.
Despite starting brightly in the powerplay of the first innings, Gujarat failed to keep up the momentum. Captain Beth Mooney (16) was the first to fall, trying to hit Ecclestone out of thr park. Her opening partner Laura Wolvaardt was the second batter to fall inside the 10-over mark, once again off Ecclestone who once again showed why she was the No. 1 T20 bowler in the world. The dip and turn of Ecclestone caught Wolvaadrt off guard and she handed a simple catch to Chamari Athapaththu at mid off.
Apart from Giants wicketkeeper Phoebe Litchfield and Ashleigh Gardner, who scored 35 runs off 26 balls, and 30 off 17 respectively, none of the other batters in her team managed to contribute significantly to the scoreboard.
The score was never going to be enough to tame the strong UP batting unit and that turned out to be true as a strong finish by Grace Harris propelled her side to 3rd place on the WPL table.
Harris Hurricane
The tournament is shaping up magnificently for Grace Harris, as her powerful and unbeaten knock of 60 runs off 33 balls has secured her the new owner of the orange cap in WPL 2024.
Despite Warriorz being dealt a significant blow when their in-form opening batting pair failed to replicate their previous performance against the Mumbai Indians, Harris emerged as the hero of the highest order. Showcasing a beautiful array of shots, she boasted 9 fours and 2 sixes, rescuing her side from a difficult situation and leading them to victory.
Having lost their opening two games of this edition of WPL against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals, the Warriorz have bounced back in the most impressive fashion. This is something that the Giants will only hope to replicate in order to get their season running.