WPL 2024 UP Warriorz vs Gujarat Giants: Rampant Harris helps UP win their second game of the season

UP Warriorz managed their second win of WPL 2024 as an unbeaten 33-ball 60 from Grace Harris helped them chase down Gujarat's total with 26 balls remaining. Harris won the player of the for her third consecutive fifty against the Giants, meanwhile, Sophie Ecclestone was the star of the bowler for the UP team with her 20/3 in four overs.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sportz Point Cricket (@sportzpointcricket)

Alyssa Healy won the toss and asked Gujarat Giants to bat first. Batting first, Gujarat Giants had a steady but solid opening partnership of 40 in 5 overs. Although Grace Harris dropped Laura Wolvaardt on 20, she managed to grab the chance when Beth Mooney provided a catch to her against Sophie Ecclestone.

Also Read: WPL 2024: Asha Shobana's historic five-wicket haul help RCB knock down UP Warriorz in a close battle

Laura (28 from 26) was the second one to go for Gujarat as she tried to come down the track and loft the ball over in the leg side against Sophie. Harleen (18 from 24) could not get going as well and lost her wicket while also going for a big shot.

Then, it was Ashleigh Gardner and Phoebe Litchfield who helped them reach an honourable total. Their 51-run partnership ended when Ashleigh Gardner (30 from 17 balls) tried to scoop one from Sophie Ecclestone. Chamari Athapaththu took a great catch running back to send a dangerous-looking Gardner back to the dressing room.

In the next ball, Phoebe Litchfield (35 from 26 balls) had to depart after a direct hit from Saima Thakor. Gujarat eventually finished on 142/5 in the first inning, their best in WPL 2024.

Coming to bat, UP went about their business straightaway with a confident Kiran Navgire and Alyssa Healy hitting some early boundaries for them. However, Navgire had to depart in the fifth over against Tanuja Kanwar when she tried to hit a big shot against the turn. Healy played a solid knock of 33 from 21 balls before perishing against Kathryn Bryce. Grace Harris then joined Chamari Athapaththu and started smashing the ball around from the start.

Though the Sri Lankan captain had a good start to her debut WPL inning, she departed after a good-looking 17 from 11 balls against Kanwar. Young Shweta Sehrawat could not add that much to the scoreboard, but Deepti Sharma and Grace Harris made sure there would be no hiccups in the run chase.

Harris completed her third consecutive fifty against the Giants in 30 balls and it looked over for the Giants. She then took three more balls to finish the game and stay unbeaten on 60 from just 33 balls with Deepti Sharma at the other end.

This was UP Warrioz's back-to-back win in the WPL 2024 and for the Giants, they remain winless in the tournament.

Back to back wins for the @UPWarriorz 💜



They're making successful chases a habit after completing a 6-wicket victory tonight! 👌👌



Scorecard 💻📱https://t.co/4LUKvUMAOB#TATAWPL | #UPWvGG pic.twitter.com/jbrV3uQvAS

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 1, 2024