An early burst by Indian pacer 16 year old Shabnam Shakil ensured that Gujarat Titans beat UP Warriors women by 8 runs to keep their playoff’s hopes alive. Shabnam Shakil‘s 3-fer was ably supported by Beth Mooney’s continuation of form as Gujarat Giants overcame the valiant effort from Indian allrounder Deepti Sharma.
Deepti Sharma hit her third half-century on the trot, coming up with 88 not out off 60 deliveries. But her knock went in vain as UP Warriorz fell short, losing by 8 runs against Gujarat Giants. Beth Mooney’s 74 not out off 52, thanks to some late hitting from the captain, powered Giants to 152/8. The Warriorz slipped to 35/5 in the chase, with Shabnam Shakil bagging three.
Pitch and Toss
The pitch used for the match was Pitch No.3. 46m and 63m square boundaries. Longest pocket is 65m, shortest is 42m. Mel Jones says it is an absolute belter with the average first innings score on this strip this season being 196. She does not expect a lot of deviation off the surface, both for the spinners and the pacers. Seamers, as long as it is swinging, might have to bowl full or resort to bouncers and yorkers to keep the scoring down.
Gujarat Giants skipper Beth Mooney won the toss and choose to bat. The Gujarat team made one change to the squad bringing in Mannat Kashyap for Sneh Rana.
The Warriorz skipper Alyssa Healy have brought back Chamari Athapaththu into the XI, with Tahlia McGrath being unwell were bowling first.
The wonder of Laura Wolvaardt
Crunchy cover drives, well-timed lofts, leg-glances, and even a one-handed shot over the bowler’s head – Laura Wolvaardt put on a batting exhibition in the powerplay, taking on both spin and pace, to power the Giants off to a quick-fire start. When the powerplay ended, Mooney was on 10 off 11, happy to watch from the non-striker’s end as Wolvaardt struck 8 fours and a six in the first six overs to help her side to 53/0.
Warriorz roar back with wickets
It was a fine fightback with the ball from the Warriorz after the powerplay as they picked up wickets at regular intervals to dent Giants’ progress in the middle overs. The slide started with Wolvaardt getting stumped off Sophie Ecclestone’s bowling, followed by Dayalan Hemalatha who was caught behind off Chamari Athapaththu.
It became 73/3 in the 11th over as Deepti accounted for Phoebe Litchfield. Mooney, who had meandered to 23 off 25, finally got going as she struck a six and a four off Ecclestone. Ash Gardner also got into the act, scooping a four off Athapaththu and pulling Rajeshwari Gayakwad for a six but the left-arm spinner had the last laugh. The Giants slipped to 105/5 in 15 overs when Deepti had Bharati Fulmali caught behind off a bottom edge.
Beth Mooney’s late blitz helps Giants finish well at 152 for 8 before Shabnam Shakil took over.
Kathryn Bryce struck a couple of boundaries but with only 118 on the board after 17 overs, the Giants really needed to get a move on – especially their captain who wasn’t at her fluent best and was also not getting much strike in the death overs. To add to Giants’ misery, Bryce was dismissed by Ecclestone in the 18th over for a run-a-ball 11 and the England spinner also bagged the wicket of Tanuja Kanwar after Mooney was dropped in the same over.
Only two runs came off the 18th before Mooney cut loose, hitting two successive fours off Deepti to get to a 42-ball fifty. She also got a lucky break as Khemnar put down a simple catch, and Mooney made sure to capitalize. With five fours in the final over off Ecclestone, she helped the Giants past 150 – a competitive total on a pitch that had plenty of help for the bowlers. Ecclestone, who had figures of 3-17 after her third, finished with 3-38.
Sensational Shabnam Shakil has UPW in shambles early in the chase
If 16-year old Shabnam Shakil thought it would not get better than getting Nat Sciver-Brunt as her first WPL wicket, she was wrong. Two days after dismissing one of the best players in the game, she added two more to her list – and both in the same over.
In defence of 152, Shakil opened the bowling and watched as Healy hit her first ball through backward point for four. She didn’t offer as much width with her second ball, though, and Healy couldn’t get the drive away. And then Shakil struck. Healy was too early trying to smash Shabnam Shakil out of the ground and skied her to mid-off where Mannat Kashyap took a good catch.
The next challenge for Shabnam Shakil was Athapaththu, and she was ready for it. Athapaththu was forced to defend the first ball and then beaten with the second one. In frustration, Athapaththu swung at the last ball of the over but sent it to Ash Gardner at extra cover, and Warriorz were 4 for 2 in the first over. Shabnam Shakil came back after the powerplay to bowl Sehrawat with a delivery that nipped back, beat the outside edge and found off stump.
To go past Royal Challengers Bangalore’s net run rate, the Warriorz needed to win the game in 13.2 overs or less – which, needless to say, required a strong start. Alyssa Healy’s first-ball four off Shabnam Shakil promised some fireworks but things fell apart for UPW soon after. Healy’s attempted loft off Shakil ended up with the bat turning and one hand coming off as she handed a catch to mid-off.
Athapaththu also fell in the same over, miscuing a loft to see Gardner take a good catch running back from cover. Kiran Navgire’s flat hit ended up as a low catch to mid-off, giving Bryce a wicket off her second ball as UPW slipped to 4/3. It became 16/4 in the fourth over when Gardner had Grace Harris caught off a pull. Deepti struck a couple of boundaries off Bryce but only 30 came in the powerplay for the Warriorz, leaving them with an uphill task.
Deepti Sharma fights back but Shabnam Shakil puts the pressure on for UPW.
Shabnam Shakil, who bowled her four overs at one go, struck off her final delivery as she Shweta Sehrawat bowled. It became 52/5 after 10 overs, with Deepti being the only hope for the chasing side as they needed 101 to win off the last 10 overs. Deepti was finding the boundaries and was also reprieved a couple of times, with Mooney being the culprit behind the stumps.
But with Khemnar struggling to get a move on and Deepti’s strike rate being just over 100, the pressure increased on the Warriorz who needed to do something special. A 14-run over from Gardner – which included a six for Deepti and a four for Khemnar – helped a bit, and Deepti also hit a four off Tanuja Kanwar to bring up a 44-ball fifty.
Deepti-Khemnar century stand in vain
UPW needed to score at a rate of 13.4 for the last five overs and Deepti set about the task with a six off Bryce, followed by four off Mannat Kashyap, who was also struck for a six by Khemnar in the same over. Both Khemnar and Deepti used the DRS to overturn a couple of on-field decisions but it came down to 40 off 12, with Meghna Singh giving away only three runs in the 18th over.
A boundary for Deepti and four byes came in the first three balls bowled by Kanwar in the 19th over, and it ended with a four and a single, leaving UPW needing 26 in the last over. UPW used the DRS again, this time to turn a bye to two wides, and then Deepti struck a six off Meghna. Another six came in the over but with 10 needed off 2, Deepti couldn’t put away the penultimate delivery, which sealed the game in Giants’ favour.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Alyssa Healy the loosing UP Warriorz captain said :
“Deepti played an outstanding knock to get us close. We did feel if we take it deep we could win, disappointing outing tonight. I probably tried to take it on too early, didn’t pay off tonight. Reflect on that, move on and hopefully be better. Now we are in the hands of couple of other teams, summed up our season, haven’t been consistent enough,”
“So many amazing players in this team that have put their hands up, which in the amazing thing. Just inconsistent (on how she would reflect on the season). Top two sides have been really good. We will learn from it and do well next year,”
Beth Mooney the winning Gujarat Giants captain said :
“After the last few games, we stuck to the situation and gave the fans something to watch. It’s a little stressful but nice for the fans. We let them back into the game, 150 was not a great score, it was an OK score if we bowled well and Shabnam was outstanding upfront,”
“I don’t know a whole heap about bowling, I love her energy and she has got a bright future and thought why not bowl her 4 upfront. Max is a happy coach and I’m happy as a skipper. Hopefully, Delhi are a strong team and I’m sure it will be another close contest,”
Shabman Shakil Player of the Match said :
“I’m feeling really happy. To perform on such a platform. I learnt a lot from my U-19 days and that experience I applied here. Last year I spoke a lot to Mushi and Mithali maam and that helped. I love bowling with the new-ball. I was getting boosted up by the new-ball and I was enjoying it. The basic plan was to hit the top of off-stump and that’s what I did. This is top of my list as this is my first award in such a top platform,”
Laura Wolvaardt and Beth Mooney gave Giants a good start with an opening stand of 60 inside eight overs, but a mini-collapse saw them teeter on 73 for 3. Warriorz spinners squeezed the middle order and left them at 120 for 7 after 18 overs, but Mooney’s unbeaten 74 allowed Giants to post a competitive 152.
At 4 for 3 and then 35 for 5 in response, Warriorz appeared completely out of the contest, but Deepti Sharma hauled them back into contention with her third successive half-century. She shared a 109-run stand with Poonam Khemnar, and threatened to pull off a massive heist by batting to the final over. Warriorz needed 18 off the last five balls and lost by just eight runs, but have much more than the batting to blame.
In total, Warriorz have dropped 16 catches in the tournament according to ESPNCricinfo ball-by-ball data, including two in this game. Mooney was put down on 42 and 50, and finished on 74*, and was the difference between Giants probably getting restricted to 120 and eventually scoring 152.
Letting her off was a source of great annoyance for Warriorz, and top wicket-taker Sophie Ecclestone did not hold back with her criticism. “I wish my team could catch the ball sometimes,” she told the broadcaster at the innings break.
Because they couldn’t, Warriorz will have to hope Royal Challengers Bangalore lose by a huge margin to Mumbai Indians on Tuesday, and Delhi Capitals beat Giants on Thursday for Warriorz to have a chance of making it to the Eliminator. Giants, on the other hand, must win their final game by a big margin and hope Royal Challengers lose big.
Gujarat Giants kept their hopes of a playoff spot alive with a nerve-wracking win over UP Warriorz that went down to the final over. It was only the fourth win for Giants across two seasons, and their smallest margin of victory after the advantage see-sawed all through the game.