The 18th match of WPL 2023 was played between UP Warriors and Gujarat Giants. Gujarat won this match by 8 runs. Talking about the match, Gujarat, while batting, scored 152 runs at the loss of 8 wickets in 20 overs, thanks to a half-century innings by Beth Mooney. In reply, UP Warriors could score only 144 runs at the loss of 5 wickets in 20 overs and lost the match by 8 runs. With this victory, Gujarat has kept itself alive in the race for the playoffs.

Talking about the match, Gujarat won the toss and decided to bat first. The team’s openers Laura Waldwort and Beth Mooney gave a great start to the team. Both added 60 runs for the first wicket. After the dismissal of Waldwort (43), Gujarat team started losing wickets continuously, seeing which captain Beth Mooney started playing cautiously.

While on one end the Gujarat team was continuously losing wickets, on the other hand Beth Mooney was continuously trying to score runs. This was the reason that despite getting a good start, Gujarat team could score only 156 runs even after batting 20 overs. Beth Mooney was the highest run scorer for the team with 74 not out from 52 balls. Talking about bowling, the most successful bowlers for UP were Sophie Ecclestone (3/38) and Deepti Sharma (2/22).

Deepti Sharma’s half-century innings went in vain

Talking about run chase, UP Warriors did not have a good start while chasing the target of 153 runs. By the time the score was just 35, half the team had returned to the pavilion. From here it seemed that Gujarat Giants would register a one-sided victory. But after this Deepti Sharma and Poonam Khemnar together took charge of the innings. There was a partnership of 109* runs between the two for the sixth wicket but this partnership could not bring victory to the team.

For UP, Deepti Sharma scored unbeaten 88 runs in 60 balls but it was not enough to lead the team to victory. Apart from them, Poonam Khemnar remained unbeaten after scoring 36 runs in 36 balls. Talking about Gujarat’s bowling, Shabnam Shakeel was the most successful bowler from their side. He took three wickets for 11 runs in his four over spell. Apart from them, Katherine Bryce and Ashley Gardner got one wicket each.