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Gujarat Giants (GG), who were teetering on bottom of the points table, rode on Ashleigh Gardner's all-rounder magic to turn the table on Delhi Capitals (DC) and pulled off a stunning 11-run win in their Women's Premier League (WPL) encounter on Thursday (March 16).
GG who kept them alive in the play off race eked out their second victory of the WPL 2023 to get rid off bottom place and surge to fourth spot ahead of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Gardner first belted an unbeaten 51 with Laura Wolvaardt, who too cracked 45-ball 57 as GG posted a total of 147/4 on the board. In reply, DC were once well on course to a possible victory but faltered in the end and were bowled out for 136 with eight balls to spare, thanks to Gardner's 2/19. Marizanne Kapp top scored for DC with 29-ball 36 but her crucial run out at the score of 97/6 left the Meg Lanning's side battered. Arundhati Reddy (25) and Shikha Pandey (8 not out) tried to put up a fight with a 35-run partnership but their efforts went on vain.
Batting second, DC suffered a jolt in the very second over as their star batter Shafali Verma returned to pavilion cheaply after scoring mere 8 off 7. But skipper Meg Lanning paired with Alice Capsey to get DC back on track and steered their side to 48/1 at the end of five overs. But yet again the match took an interesting turn and GG captain Sneh Rana gave her marching orders to Lanning in the sixth over on the score of 18 off 15. It took a turn for the worse for the Capitals as the dangerous Capsey was run out in the same over. Jemimah Rodrigues followed suit in the next over, leaving her side in all sorts of trouble. Marizanne Kapp and Jess Jonassen, who were the heroes for the Capitals in their last outing, threatened to take the game away from Sneh Rana's side, but both fell in quick succession to hand Gujarat Giants the upper hand in the contest.
But the match turned again, this time in the favor of the Women in Red and Blue, as Arundhati Reddy played a nonchalant cameo to bring her side back into the match from nowhere. However, Arundhati's dismissal led to her side's demise as the Giants held their nerves to register their second win of the tournament.
GG will be up against RCB next on March 18 while DC will face table toppers Mumbai Indians on March 20 respectively.
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