🏏WPL 2024: Match 8: GG W vs UP Warriorz W🏏

🏏WPL 2024: Match 8: GG W vs UP Warriorz W at Bengalauru on 01/032024 at 7:30PM IST🏏

Gujarat Giants seem to be carrying forward the baggage of last season where they finished at the bottom of the table. Having lost both their games so far, the manner of the defeats will concern the team management as the Giants were thoroughly outplayed by Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Both games had a similar template with the Giants asked to bat first, only to finish with an extremely under-par total. Losing a plethora of wickets to the new ball has meant that the early damage has been irreparable. With a thin roster in terms of starpower, the onus is on the Aussie trio of captain Beth Mooney, Phoebe Litchfield and Ashleigh Gardner to step up.

UP Warriorz began with a nervy defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore before being ambushed by the Delhi Capitals. However, Alyssa Healy's side bounced back in style with a crushing win over defending champions Mumbai Indians. The form of Kiran Navgire augurs well for the batting unit that still hasn't had sizeable contributions from Healy or Tahlia McGrath. The spin-heavy bowling attack has done a reasonable job but the batting will hope for more consistency if they are to continue their winning run. Warriorz are riding high on confidence after the win against MI but they'll know that a desperate side like GG can be a slippery opponent.

UP Warriorz Women vs Gujarat Giants Women Pitch Report

The UPW vs GG match pitch report will be broadcast live on Sports18 and JioCinema before the toss. Typically, the wicket in Bengaluru helps the batters.

Even in the last game between Delhi and Bangalore, as many as 363 runs were scored. With short boundaries on either side of the ground, the margin of error for the bowlers diminishes significantly.

The team winning the toss will be expected to bowl first.

UP Warriorz Women vs Gujarat Giants Women Weather Forecast

The weather in Bengaluru today is expected to be partly cloudy with a high of 32 degrees Celsius and a low of 18 degrees Celsius. During the match hours, the temperature might hover around 25 degrees Celsius.

Team news

UP Warriorz

Having finally opened their account with a comfortable win, the team management won't be tempted to make any changes. A forced change, though, is on the cards with Vrinda Dinesh unlikely to feature due to an injured shoulder. Her injury is what arguably paved the way for Navgire's promotion. Dinesh's potential absence could mean a return for Gouher Sultana, strengthening an already spin-heavy unit.

Probable XI: Alyssa Healy(c&wk), Kiran Navgire, Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris, Deepti Sharma, Shweta Sehrawat, Poonam Khemnar, Sophie Ecclestone, Anjali Sarvani, Gouher Sultana, Rajeshwari Gayakwad

Gujarat Giants

Two heavy defeats in as many games does warrant changes but the Giants don't have much depth in their squad to choose from. The batting failures may tempt them to draft in Laura Wolvaardt but that would mean leaving out an overseas pacer, possibly Lea Tahuhu who has looked lacklustre in both the games. It would mean the addition of an Indian pacer and given the lack of experience among local players, the bowling attack will be thinner. Promising all-rounder Shabnam Md Shakil, 15-year-old hailing from Vizag, could be thrown into the mix for a WPL debut.

Probable XI: Beth Mooney(c&wk), Laura Wolvaardt, Harleen Deol, Phoebe Litchfield, Ashleigh Gardner, D Hemalatha, Shabnim Md Shakil, Sneh Rana, Kathryn Bryce, Tanuja Kanwer, Meghana Singh

What they said

"Will have to go back to the drawing board. I don't believe in form in this format, if we start scoring runs in the next two games, then everyone will forget the first two." - Beth Mooney is clear about where the problem lies with her team

"I was playing the ball on merit, that's the plan. I like to play to my strengths and that's what I do." - Kiran Navgire reveals her simple mantra for causing destruction

Squads: 

UP Warriorz Squad: Alyssa Healy(w/c), Kiran Navgire, Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris, Deepti Sharma, Vrinda Dinesh, Shweta Sehrawat, Poonam Khemnar, Sophie Ecclestone, Anjali Sarvani, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Saima Thakor, Laxmi Yadav, Parshavi Chopra, Soppadhandi Yashasri, Chamari Athapaththu, Danielle Wyatt, Gouher Sultana

Gujarat Giants Squad: Harleen Deol, Beth Mooney(w/c), Phoebe Litchfield, Veda Krishnamurthy, Ashleigh Gardner, Dayalan Hemalatha, Kathryn Bryce, Sneh Rana, Tanuja Kanwar, Lea Tahuhu, Meghna Singh, Laura Wolvaardt, Tarannum Pathan, Mannat Kashyap, Shabnam Md Shakil, Sayali Satghare, Priya Mishra, Trisha Poojitha

Head-to-Head Record

Matches Played 2

Gujarat Giants Women won 0

UP Warriorz Women won 2

Probable Best Batter of the Match

UP Warriorz’s captain Alyssa Healy finally registered a good score against her name in the last fixture after a couple of failures (5,13). She played a brilliant knock of 33 (29) against Mumbai but failed to convert it into a big score. The Australian captain is touted as one of the fiercest strikers of the cricket ball boasting a strike rate of 129.15 in T20Is. After three below-par outings in the season so far, Healy will be hungry for a big knock in the upcoming fixture.

Probable Best Bowler of the Match

Gujarat Giants’ Tanuja Kanwar is the leading wicket-taker of her side with three wickets to her name from two matches at an average of 13.66 and an economy of 6.83. The left-arm spinner picked up 2/21 against Mumbai Indians Women and will be eager to replicate her performance in the upcoming fixture.

Today’s Match Prediction: Team Batting Second to win the match

Thank you, Raji, for the thread and for tagging me. 

Best wishes to both teams. 

The two sides are in the bottom half of the points table. While UPW has registered one win from three games, GG has played two and lost two.

After beginning WPL 2024 with two losses, UPW registered their first win of the edition by stunning Mumbai Indians (MI) by seven wickets in their previous match. Bowling first, they came up with a clinical effort to hold the defending champions to 161/6 as five bowlers picked up one wicket each. Kiran Navgire then led the chase with an attacking half-century.

GG, meanwhile, were hammered by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by eight wickets in their previous outing. Sent into bat, they struggled for rhythm and were held to 107/7 in their 20 overs.