In the first edition of WPL 2023, the league match has just concluded, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals have lost their place in the play-off and UP warriors are in the same place. But for the third place, no name has been fixed yet, and there is a full chance of making playoff places for the remaining three teams. Today the result of the match between GG and UPW will clear the possible claim of playoff.
Gujarat Giants’ playoff hopes bleak
Despite having the same number of points as Royal Challengers Bangalore, Gujarat Giants are almost out of contention for the playoffs due to a poor net run rate of -2.511. With their last league game scheduled for Monday, even if they beat UP Warriors by 100 runs after scoring 160, they still need UP Warriors to lose to Delhi Capitals by 112 runs to stay top on NRR basis Will happen. Not only this, Royal Challengers will also need to lose their last game against Mumbai Indians.
UP Warriors: Eyes on the playoffs
UP Warriors, currently placed third and the only team to beat Mumbai, can confirm their playoff spot by winning one of their last two matches or even losing both their matches by a small margin. However, with pitches starting to assist spin, the Warriors will rely on their strong line-up of spinners to secure their playoff berth. In their last match against Mumbai, the Warriors bowled 18 of their 20 overs to the spinners and emerged victorious.
Players to Watch
Ashley Gardner has been the star performer for Gujarat Giants, contributing with both bat and ball. She is also the team’s second-highest scorer and joint-highest wicket-taker so far.
On the other hand, for UP Warriors, left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone has so far bowled with 12 strikes and is the joint-highest wicket-taker in the Women’s Premier League, as well as the UP Warriors lower down the order. Also provides a useful batting option.
Probable playing 11
Here is the probable playing XI of both the teams:
Gujarat Giants (probable): 1 Sophia Dunkley, 2 Laura Wolvaardt, 3 S Meghna, 4 Ashley Gardner, 5 D Hemlata, 6 Harleen Deol, 7 Ashwini Kumari, 8 Sneh Rana (c), 9 Sushma Verma (wk), 10 Tanuja Kanwar, 11 Kim Garth
UP Warriors (possible): 1 Alyssa Healy (c & wk), 2 Devika Vaidya, 3 Kiran Navagire, 4 Tahlia McGrath, 5 Grace Harris, 6 Deepti Sharma, 7 Sophie Ecclestone, 8 Simran Sheikh, 9 Parshvi Chopra, 10 Anjali Sarwani , 11 Rajeshwari Gaikwad
Statistics and general knowledge
Warriors and Giants have worst ever run rate in Powerplay in WPL – both teams scored runs in first 6 overs of Powerplay at average run rates of 6.30 and 6.38 respectively
When it comes to bowling, Gujarat Giants have conceded the highest run rate in the powerplays (a poor rate of 9.35) while Warriors have taken the least number of wickets (6 wickets) in the powerplays in the 6 matches they have played so far.
Quotes
“I have had a few weeks since the World Cup halfway through but I think we had a psychologist during that tournament and I was talking to him a lot. talked a lot about. I can.”
Laura Wolvaardt, (Gujarat Giants), On carrying forward her form from the T20 World Cup to the WPL.
“There is no pressure as such, we are taking it one match at a time. We are focusing on ourselves and not what the other teams are doing.”
UP Warriors vice-captain Deepti Sharma, On her team’s approach to the playoffs.