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. 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 (8x4, 4x6).
It was Gujarat’s first win over the reigning champions after eight successive defeats and could not have come at a better 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.