Two teams occupying the fourth and fifth positions on the points table will clash in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) on Friday as Alyssa Healy-led UP Warriorz take on Beth Mooney-led Gujarat Giants at Bengaluru’s M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The Warriorz will come into the match on a high after registering their first victory of the season against the Mumbai Indians on Wednesday.
The performance of Indian batter Kiran Navgire, who was promoted to open the innings, proved to be a masterstroke for the Healy-led side as the right-hander smashed a quickfire half-century and helped the side chase down the score of 162 runs set by MI with relative ease and get the much-required two points on the board.
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Each of the five bowlers used by Healy on Wednesday took one wicket apiece, with spinners Grace Harris and Sophie Ecclestone emerging the most economical of the lot.
The Warriorz will, however, look to put in an improved fielding performance on Friday in a bid to ensure that their chances of winning a second match in a row are not diminished. They might be forced to make one change to their XI that won on Wednesday, after Indian batter Vrinda Dinesh sustained a shoulder injury while fielding in the first innings against MI and had to be rushed to the hospital for scans.
The Gujarat Giants have had a beginning to forget to the 2024 WPL, having lost both their matches convincingly to reigning champions Mumbai Indians and hosts Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The key factor to their disappointing outings so far has been their batting in the Powerplay, where they have failed to get going and put pressure on the rest of the batters to get them to a defendable score.
Skipper Beth Mooney has had two different opening partners in Veda Krishnamurthy and Harleen Deol in both the matches and might need to consider a third different partner for the match on Friday and include South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt in the playing XI to add some experience at the top.
Another key factor for GG’s poor batting shows so far has been the performance of southpaw Phoebe Litchfield, who has found it difficult to get going in the tournament and will need to deliver the goods on Friday for the side to put themselves in a position to claim their first points of the second season.
The one positive for GG in both fixtures has been the performance of left-arm wrist spinner Tanuja Kanwer, who has dismissed key opposition players to offer a glimmer of hope for Mooney and her side.
It will, however, require more than just the odd good individual performance on Friday for GG to register their first win and get off the mark on the points table.
What: UP Warriorz vs Gujarat Giants, Match 8, Women’s Premier League 2024
When: March 1, 2024, 7:30 PM IST
Where: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
Likely playing XIs
The Warriorz will look to play the same XI that defeated MI on Wednesday and hope to build momentum to their tournament with a second consecutive victory.
UPW: Alyssa Healy (c & wk), Kiran Navgire, Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris, Shweta Sehrawat, Poonam Khemnar, Deepti Sharma, Sophie Ecclestone, Anjali Sarvani, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Saima Thakor.
GG might have to make one definite change and bring in Wolvaardt for Lea Tahuhu and strengthen their batting at the top to ensure they can get off to a good start.
GG: Beth Mooney (c & wk), Laura Wolvaardt, Phoebe Litchfield, Harleen Deol, Veda Krishnamurthy, Dayalan Hemalatha, Ashleigh Gardner, Kathryn Bryce, Sneh Rana, Tanuja Kanwar, Meghna Singh.
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