Twitter Reactions: Grace Harris, Kiran Navgire help UP Warriorz secure nail-biting victory in campaign opener against Gujarat Giants

Grace Harris. (Photo Source: Twitter/WPL)

The third game of the Women’s Premier League saw Gujarat Titans and UP Warriorz squaring off at the Dr. DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. After a loss in the tournament’s curtain raiser, Gujarat Giants put up a good show and dominated the game but half-centuries by Grace Harris and Kiran Navgire helped UP Warriorz clinch a thrilling victory in the final over and begin their campaign in style.

Gujarat Giants had to make one forceful change to their side as skipper Beth Mooney had to sit out due to the injury she suffered in the first game. As a result, Sneh Rana led the team, won the toss, and decided to bat first. After an abysmal performance with the bat in their previous outing against Mumbai Indians, Gujarat batters showed good resilience in the game against the Warriorz.

Sabbhineni Meghana and Sophia Dunkley opened the innings and provided the side with a fiery start before the latter was dismissed in the fourth over off Deepti Sharma’s delivery. Sophie Ecclestone struck in the very next over to pick her first wicket and dismissed Meghana before returning for her next over to dismiss Annabel Sutherland.

The middle-order batters could not score much, but Harleen Deol (46 off 32) kept piling runs from the other end and kept finding the gaps frequently, thereby hitting seven fours during her time on the crease. Batting towards the end of the lineup, Ashleigh Gardner (25 off 16) and Dayalan Hemalatha (21 off 13) contributed well and added to the team’s total as Gujarat Giants finished scoring 169/6 in their allotted 20 overs.

UP Warriorz clinch a victory from jaws of defeat

UP Warriorz’s start to the chase was awful, as opening batters, Alyssa Healy and Shweta Sehrawat were dismissed cheaply in the third over of the game. Australia’s Kim Garth, after dismissing the openers, struck for the third time in the same over to dismiss explosive all-rounder Tahlia McGrath. The innings was then anchored by top-order batter Kiran Navgire, who notched up 53 runs in 43 deliveries and kept her side on track.

The game slowed down after Navgire’s dismissal, as Kim Garth ended up taking a five-wicket haul, which set the tone of the game for Gujarat Giants. In three overs of her spell, she conceded 16 runs and picked up five wickets. In came Australian all-rounder Grace Harris and got her side back into the race. After bowling the first three overs brilliantly, Garth ended up giving away 20 runs in the 18th over.

In no time, Harris and Sophie Ecclestone stitched up a 50-run partnership off mere 22 deliveries, and extended it to 70*(26) by the end of the game. The game came down to the final over as UP Warriorz needed 19 runs to win and Annabel Sutherland was handed the job to defend it. Harris sent the first ball for a humungous six and the equation came down to 13 off five. The 29-year-old kept going and got a boundary off the third delivery of the over to get the game down the wire.

The last over saw all the drama, as players of both sides grabbed every opportunity to win the nail-biting thriller. Slip-ups from Sutherland while bowling, and a mis-field led to Grace Harris getting the advantage. She hit a four to level the scores and notched up a huge six on the penultimate delivery to finish off the game in style as UP Warriors won the game by three wickets with just one ball to spare.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: