Tahlia McGrath (57) and Grace Harris (72) smashed half-centuries as UP Warriorz beat Gujarat Giants by three wickets at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Monday and sealed a playoffs berth, joining Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals.
The Warriorz’ victory also crushed the knockout hopes of both the Giants and the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The Alyssa Healy-led side had a stiff target to chase down as the Giants posted 178/6 after winning the toss and opting to bat first. Dayalan Hemalatha (57) and Ashleigh Gardner (60) propelled the Giants after they lost three wickets for 50 runs in six overs.
The pair stitched 93 for the fourth wicket to help the Giants put up a challenging total. For the Warriorz, Rajeshwari Gayakwad (2/39) and Parshavi Chopra (2/29) struck twice each, while left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone (1/27) was economical once again.
The run chase looked tough for the UP franchise as they were wobbling at 39/3 after 4.5 overs. McGrath and Harris then paired up to launch a counterattack, hitting 78 in their fourth-wicket partnership to bring the Warriorz back in the game.
The loss of McGrath and Deepti Sharma in quick succession shifted the momentum towards the Giants again, but Harris kept going and with good support from Ecclestone (19 not out) took her side closer to the target.
The Warriorz needed seven to win off the final over and Ecclestone hit India off-spinner Sneh Rana for a four to seal the game with a ball to spare.
Clinical DC move atop
Calcutta: Bowlers fired in unison as Delhi Capitals thrashed Mumbai Indians by nine wickets at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Monday.
Opting to bowl first after winning the toss, Marizanne Kapp, Shikha Pandey and Jess Jonassen struck twice each to restrict Mumbai to a paltry 109/8.
Thereafter, captain Meg Lanning, her opening partner Shafali Verma and No.3 Alice Capsey had a field day with the bat as the Capitals took only nine overs to seal the game with as many as 66 balls remaining.
With this win, the Capitals join Mumbai at 10 points and go atop the standings by virtue of a better net run rate.
For Mumbai, this was their second straight defeat and it boils down to their below-par batting. Their batters can’t leave skipper Harmanpreet Kaur with too much to do.
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