Gujarat Giants head coach Michael Klinger heaps praise on debutant Sharma after she impresses with 30-ball 44 in her maiden WPL outing as GG edge UP Warriorz by 10 runs in a high-scoring encounter
GG’s Anushka Sharma during her quickfire 44 against UPW on Saturday. Pics/WPL
Though UP Warriorz (UPW) hold the record for the highest Women’s Premier League total — 225-5 (vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru) — they failed to chase Gujarat Giants’s 207-4 at the DY Patil Stadium in their WPL-4 opening game on Saturday. Skipper Ashleigh Gardner (41-ball 65, 6x4, 3x6) and debutant Anushka Sharma (44 off 30 balls, 7x4), backed by a combined bowling effort, helped GG seal a close 10-run win.
Litchfield smashes 78
UPW’s one-drop batter Phoebe Litchfield (40-ball 78, 8x4, 5x6) tried her best, but couldn’t take her team home. GG leg-spinner Georgia Wareham (2-30), who also scored an unbeaten 27 off 10 balls, dismissed skipper Meg Lanning (26) and Harleen Deol (0) in her second over. After the first Powerplay, UPW were 46-1. They needed 76 from the last six overs, but could only manage 197-8 eventually.
GG’s Georgia Wareham during her 2-30 on Saturday
Earlier, after being put into bat, Australia’s experienced campaigner Gardner and debutant Anushka made life difficult for the UPW bowlers. Batting at No. 3 and No. 4 respectively, Anushka and Gardner shared 103 runs off just 63 balls.
Though Madhya Pradesh batter Anushka, 22, missed out on a maiden half-century, she impressed everyone with her footwork, which helped her play cover drives, pulls and sweep shots with perfect timing. Even Gujarat coach Michael Klinger lavished praise on Anushka’s temperament.
Michael Klinger
“She’s still very young in her career. She’s had a good domestic season. This was her first WPL game and she played really well,” Klinger said at the post-match press conference.
“From a batting coach’s lens, she’s got the game, temperament, attitude, characteristics and intent at the crease. If she keeps performing like this, playing for India, hopefully won’t be too far away, but she needs to keep putting in performances. She’s doing everything right at the moment.
‘Beautiful timing’
“I don’t want to make a big statement, but she’s going to be playing for India. She’s a fantastic cricketer, has time at the crease. She’s timing the ball beautifully and can hit both through and over the field,” he added.
Meanwhile, UPW’s Litchfield felt the 208-run target was within reach. “It was definitely chaseable. There were a couple of moments where they [GG] strung a couple of dot balls together. When you have to go from Ball One at 10 [run per over], it went pretty quickly to 12 with our slow start. So I think potentially had we got off to a flyer in the Powerplay, it would have made it easier,” she said.
404
Total number of runs scored in the match — the second-highest aggregate in WPL history
One
This is Gujarat Giants’s maiden win in an opening encounter, they lost their first match in last three editions
Brief scores
GG 207-4 in 20 overs (A Gardner 65, A Sharma 44, S Devine 38; S Ecclestone 2-32) beat UPW 197-8 in 20 overs (P Litchfield 78, M Lanning 30; R Singh 2-25, G Wareham 2-30, Devine 2-55) by 10 runs
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