Gujarat Giants beat Mumbai Indians to reach WPL Eliminator

Ashleigh Gardner and Georgia Wareham powered Gujarat Giants to their first-ever win over Mumbai Indians, securing an 11-run victory and a place in the Women’s Premier League Eliminator. Harmanpreet Kaur’s unbeaten 82 went in vain as Mumbai fell short

Vadodara: Skipper Ashleigh Gardner and Georgia Wareham starred with bat and ball as Gujarat Giants finally broke their jinx against defending champions Mumbai Indians with an 11-run victory to seal a spot in the Women’s Premier League Eliminator here on Friday.

Gardner smashed a counter-punching 46 off 28 balls and Wareham struck a brisk 44 from 26 as the duo stitched together a crucial 71-run stand to rescue Gujarat from a mid-innings slump and lift them to a competitive 167 for 4 after opting to bat.

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Chasing 168 on a tricky surface in a high-pressure contest proved challenging for Mumbai Indians, who were restricted to 156/7 despite skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s valiant unbeaten 82 off 48 balls (8×4, 4×6).

It was Gujarat’s first win over the reigning champions after eight successive defeats and came at the perfect time, securing their place in Tuesday’s Eliminator.

Mumbai’s fate will be decided on Sunday when Delhi Capitals take on UP Warriorz in the final league match. A Delhi win will confirm their Eliminator berth, while a victory for bottom-placed UP Warriorz could open the door for Mumbai.

UPW, who have the worst net run rate of -1.146, still have an outside chance but would need a massive win to overhaul MI’s run rate of 0.146.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru have already booked a direct place in the final after topping the five-team standings with six wins from eight matches.

Mumbai endured a poor start as Sophie Devine (2/23) cleaned up Hayley Matthews (6) with a delivery that stayed low in her opening over and then dismissed Nat Sciver-Brunt (2), with Anushka Sharma taking a fine catch near the deep square-leg boundary.

Sajeevan Sajana (26) briefly counter-attacked, lofting Kashvee Gautam over deep midwicket and smashing her through point, but the young seamer had the last laugh, dismissing her off the final ball of the over.

Wareham then tightened the screws in the middle overs, returning figures of 2/26, removing Amelia Kerr (20) and Sanskriti Gupta (0) to peg Mumbai back further. Gardner also picked one wicket (1/26) from three overs.

Needing 37 runs off the final two overs with Harmanpreet well set and bringing up her third fifty of the season, Mumbai still fell short. The skipper smashed Gardner for two sixes in the last over, but the target proved beyond reach as they slumped to their first-ever defeat against Gujarat.

Earlier, opting to bat, Giants looked in trouble after losing two set batters — Anushka Sharma (33) and Sophie Devine (25) — for the addition of just two runs as the run rate dipped sharply with disciplined bowling from Amelia Kerr (2/26) and Shabnim Ismail (1/29).

With momentum slipping away, skipper Ashleigh turned the tide dramatically in the 16th over, taking Hayley Matthews to the cleaners for 19 runs.

She began with a powerful hit over deep midwicket and followed it up with three consecutive boundaries. She then attacked Shabnim, smashing four boundaries in a 17-run over. The onslaught spoiled Shabnim’s otherwise economical spell after conceding just 12 runs in her first three overs.

The New Zealand leg-spinner Kerr, however, had the final say, deceiving the GG skipper in flight with a fuller delivery that led to a sharp stumping to end her onslaught.

Gardner struck seven fours and a six in her brisk knock as GG piled up 61 runs in the last five overs.