WPL | All-round Wareham hands Gujarat Giants first-ever win over Mumbai Indians to secure playoffs spot

‌Gujarat Giants won the toss and became the first team across the last two seasons to choose to bat first. Sophie Devine backed up the decision with a boundary in each of the first two overs, which combined with a five wides from Natalie Sciver-Brunt got the hosts off to a rolicking start. However, Shabnim Ismail was quick to peg them back by scalping Beth Mooney with a length ball that held up in the surface, bringing Anushka Sharma to the creaes. The young Indian stalwart was quick to announce her arrival with three gorgeous boundaries against domestic teammate Vasihnavi Sharma across her two powerplay overs, aided by one from Devine's bat to take the score to 48/1 after six. The spread of field brought about a slight lull, with just 17 runs coming off the next three overs, until Anushka decided to break the shackles by charging down Amelia Kerr to dispatch her for the first maximum of the game. However, the Kiwi had the last laugh when another attempt from Anushka only travelled as far as Shabnil Ismail at long-on, and Sciver-Brunt made it a double whammy by dispatching Devine for 33 just four deliveries later. The onus thus fell on the Aussie pair of Ashleigh Gardner and Georgia Wareham to take the Giants to a competitive score from 71/3 at the halfway stage, and they quickly got to task. Gardner struck a couple of early boundaries before Wareham dispatched Kerr for a maximum in the 15th over, setting the stage for a grand finish. Gardner tore into Hayley Matthews, smashing a six followed by three boundaries in the 16th over, before the duo struck two boundaries each off Ismail to total 33 in the space of two overs. Even though Kerr broke the stand thereafter by dismissing Gardner for a 28-ball 46, Wareham kept the charge going to end unbeaten on 44 off 26 and set a competitive target of 168 for the two-time champions.

In response, Mumbai struggled to race off the blocks with Sajeevan Sajana particularly struggling, managing two off her first nine boundaries. Nevertheless, the big-hitter made up for it with two boundaries in Rajeshwari Gayakwad's opening effort but the dot balls kept piling up still, culminating in Matthews chopping on a Devine lenth ball in the penultimate over of the powerplay. Sajana tried to maximimze the field restrictions with a six and a four in the ensuing over but played a shot too many and holed out for a nearly run-a-ball 26, as the Giants ended the powerplay at 33/2. The situation exacerbated further when Devine scalped Sciver-Brunt four deliveries later after a sluggish six-ball stay, and despite a belligerent start from Harmanpreet Kaur the Indians were left reeling at 65/3 at the halfway stage. Kerr tried to offer support from the other end with two boundaries in a 16-ball 20 but was outdone by Wareham in the 12th overas the required run rate climbed well into double digits. Despite showing intent, Harmanpreet was struggling to get away boundaries as frequently as she'd like, meaning just 28 came off the next four overs to leave a tall ask of 58 in the final four overs. With Amanjot also unable to score quickly, Harmanpreet took matters into her own hands with a four and a maximum off Gayakwad to bring up a 34-ball half-century, albeit Giants seized back momentum by ended the over with Amanjot's wicket. Sanskriti Gupta could also last for just two balls as Wareham capped off her contributions with a tidy five-run over to end with 2/26, and leave Mumbai an unlikely 37 to get in 12 deliveries. Harmanpreet kept the chase alive with a couple boundaries off Devine and managed to retain strike too for the final over, with 26 runs required for victory. Skipper Gardner took on the duty to seal matters and was immediately put under pressure when Harmanpreet slammed a full-toss all the way, but came back strongly with a dot to leave 20 to get in four. Harmanpreet responded by disposing off her helmet and clearing cover for yet another maximum, but shanked the following effort and failed to get back for two to effectively seal matters. Gardner made the result official by having Pooja Khemnar caught off her own bowling, the 11-run win sealing Gujarat's place in the Eliminator on February 3.

Superb

Rich form

They did!

Into the playoffs

No context

Fantastic

Crazy

Wonderfull

What a win

Lovely