That’s it for the blog. We have had our first proper thriller of the tournament, what a match that was.

Some reactions to a thriller:

Player of the match: Not Kim Garth for a five-for, because Grace Harris pulled off a stunning heist. It’s the Aussie batter who gets the nod.

UP WARRIORZ WIN! Grace Harris, what an innings! 59 off 26 balls and she has turned it around for her side out of nowhere, a sensational innings. Sophie Ecclestone with a great hand too. A big call from UP to leave out Shabnim Ismail for batting depth but that is what Harris is capable of. What a stunning innings to turn this chase around out of nowhere. She has arrived. We have WPL’s first thriller.

UPW 175/7 after 19.5 overs: GRACE HARRIS!!! SIX TO FINISH! What an innings. What a finish. What a match. UP Warriorz win by 3 wickets.

UPW 169/7 after 19.4 overs: No way! Harris mishits that, the ball turns viciously in the deep and goes for four past Joshi. Fifty for Harris.

UPW 165/7 after 19.3 overs: Not given a wide and now Harris reviews! Drama. This is on the line too. They are checking for an edge as well. More drama. The umpire’s decision has been overturned! 5 off 3 balls now.

UPW 164/7 after 19.3 overs: STRAIGHT DOWN THE GROUND! Four. What a shot by Harris.

UPW 160/7 after 19.2 overs: TWO! Drama. Great fielding in the deep but Ecclestone should be run out, but Sutherland doesn’t gather. Harris back on strike. 10 off 4.

UPW 158/7 after 19.1 overs: Wide given. Rana could review this. But isn’t she too late? There is confusion here. Player review now. That was surely too late. Drama. But anyway, that should be a wide. Delay here. It is a wide.

UPW 157/7 after 19.1 overs: A six to start the last over. Flat over midwicket. Wow, Harris!

19 off 6. Sutherland to bowl. Harris on strike. What a match.

UPW 151/7 after 19 overs: SIX! Ecclestone with a super hit over midwicket. That is another good over, but Gardner comes back alright

33 off 12 needed. Gardner.

UPW 137/7 after 18 overs: 4-1-4-4-4-2nb-1

A HUGE OVER! Grace Harris has turned it on. Garth’s figures have been spoiled.

UPW 117/7 after 17 overs: Tanuja’s over spoiled by a full toss last ball, huge six from Harris.

UPW 107/7 after 16 overs: The bowling has been tight, the fielding has been sharp. It’s been a good turnaround from Giants. Harris and Ecclestone in the middle, can go big, but the rate is too high at the moment.

UPW 105/7 after 15.4 overs: WICKET! Slower ball from Sutherland and Vaidya lobs it Good running low catch by Hemalatha. GG are closing in. Vaidya c Hemalatha b Sutherland 4 (7 balls)

UPW 100/6 after 15 overs: Harris with a four in Gardner’s over and she needs to do a lot of heavylifting from here for UP to stand a chance. Vaidya is the new batter.

UPW 92/6 after 14 overs: Harris has too much to do here. Tanuja with a tight over.

UPW 88/6 after 12.5 overs: WICKET! FIVe-FOR! WOW. Garth’s day out! Simran is bowled through the gate! Shaikh b Garth 0 (1 ball)

UPW 88/5 after 12.4 overs: WICKET! a fine innings is over. Short ball and it is gloved, loops to the keeper. Navgire c Verma b Garth 53 (43 balls)

UPW 86/4 after 12 overs: WICKET! Superb delivery by Joshi, nice shape back into the LHB and timber! Deepti never got going. Sharma b Joshi 11 (16 balls)

Half century Kiran Navgire: She has reached 51* off 40 balls. Took her time to get going but she is playing a good hand here.

UPW 81/3 after 11 overs: Without a boundary off the bat (a four byes), a good over for UPW. 11 runs from that Rana over. UP tracking well here.

UPW 70/3 after 10 overs: Exactly 100 needed from the last 10 overs as Navgire finishes that over with a four off Joshi. Meanwhile, it is not looking good for Beth Mooney, is the update from Rachael Haynes during the mid-innings chat.

UPW 60/3 after 9 overs: Another six for Navgire, taking on Rana down the ground. UP need 110 runs from the last 11 overs and they will believe, with Grace Harris still to bat.

After 8.3 overs, UP are 52/3 and GG were 53/3. We have a good game on our hands

UPW 51/3 after 8 overs: Another four for Navgire in the Gardner over, but UP largely keeping things in check.

UPW 44/3 after 7 overs: That will go down as a dropped catch, a good off-cutter from Sutherland and the outside edge just evades Sushma. Needed a better dive.

UPW 35/3 after 6 overs: And momentum for UPW. A high ball into the night sky from Navgire and it’s a six over midwicket. A powerplay that belonged to Giants but KPN showing right intent there at the end.

UPW 26/3 after 5 overs: Annabel Sutherland with a tight first over, just one run. Navgire struggling with the pace.

UPW 25/3 after 4 overs: A four for Navgire in the Gardner over. She is joined by Deepti in the middle.

UPW 20/3 after 3 overs: WICKET! WHAT AN OVER. Garth with a big wicket, again that shape and the edge is taken at first slip. McGrath c Hemalatha b Garth 0 (1 ball)

UPW 19/2 after 2.5 overs: WICKET! What an over. That shape away does the trick. Outside edge and it’s a good low catch at short third. Sehrawat c Joshi b Garth 5 (6 balls)

UPW 13/1 after 2.1 overs: WICKET! And there is the breakthrough. Aussie gets Aussie. Garth induces the edge, juggles and holds on. Healy c & b Garth 7 (8 balls)

UPW 13/0 after 2 overs: Healy not very amused at the non-striker’s end. A couple of singles, turned down by Shweta. The second one certainly a case of ball-watching. The youngster finishes the over with a four through fine leg.

Tanuja Kanwar, who was impressive yesterday but was underutilised, comes into the attack.

UPW 7/0 after 1 over: Oh, nearly a wicket first ball. Healy flicks one towards long leg, but it falls short. She nails a flick later for four.

Kim Garth to start.

GG 169/6 at the end of 20 overs: It will be interesting to see Shweta Sehrawat open the batting with Alyssa Healy. What a chance for the Indian youngster from the U19 World Cup winning squad to learn from one of the best.

GG 169/6 at the end of 20 overs: In all of Giants’ batting issues, D Hemalatha has started the tournament with couple of unbeaten 20s lower down the order, striking decently. A proper middle order option, hope she continues to impress. Deol says in a chat with Harsha Bhogle that it can be a good total with their side’s bowling attack but honestly, feels under par.

GG 169/6 at the end of 20 overs: A decent last over for the Giants as they pick up 9 off Ecclestone. A four for Rana and another unbeaten knock from Hemalatha.

GG 160/6 after 19 overs: I imagine UP Warriorz might be the only side to consistently go to spin for the last two overs with Deepti Sharma and Sophie Ecclestone in their ranks. Hemalatha with a couple of good hits in that over for a four and a six. She has started the tournament well, it must be said

GG 142/6 after 17.2 overs: WICKET! Deol falls just as she started to get a move on. Goes for a big shot, finds the fielder at deep midwicket. Deol c McGrath b Anjali Sarvani 46 (32 balls)

GG 141/5 after 17 overs: 4-4-4-4! That is a brilliant over for Giants. Deol takes on Vaidya, two sweeps followed by two shots through the offside.

GG 120/5 after 15.2 overs: WICKET! Oh dear, that is a nightmare moment for Giants and Gardner. One ball after hitting a four , Gardner charges down against Deepti. Beaten by flight, but UPW still needed luck as Healy misgathered it but the ball fell onto the stumps. Gardner st Healy b Sharma 25 (19 balls)

Deepti Sharma back. Will Gardner tee off?

GG 116/4 after 15 overs: A lengthy, expensive over from Anjali. A few wides as she went around the wicket to slant the ball in and missed the line. A four for Deol too. There was a good appeal for LBW but it swung too much into Gardner.

GG 103/4 after 14 overs: And there it is, what Gardner can do. A brilliant lofted hit over long on for six. Taking on the best bowler in the world too, no less.

GG 93/4 after 13 overs: A four for Gardner in Gayakwad’s over through the offside. GG need plenty more of that.

GG 84/4 after 12 overs: Harleen is now going at run-a-ball and she is joined by Gardner in the middle. Six runs off Devika Vaidya’s first over.

GG 78/4 after 11 overs: WICKET! After an expensive start to the over, the Aussie allrounder strikes. Goes for a big shot and Sushma skies it, taken well by Shweta Sehrawat, not easy under floodlights. Verma c Sehrawat b McGrath 9 (13 balls)

GG 67/3 after 10 overs: Bizarre moment in that over. Sushma tries to scoop a ball that is given wide despite going past the off stump. UP review it. Good use of the new rule but utterly bizarre.

GG 58/3 after 9 overs: Not sure what Giants are hoping to achieve with Verma and Deol in the middle, dropping anchors. At least a four in that McGrath four for the latter.

GG 51/3 after 8 overs: Still no Ash Gardner. Giants continue to confound. Sushma the new batter with Deol, who is not the fastest of scorers. Top over from Ecclestone.

GG 50/3 after 7.1 overs: WICKET! Ecclestone is on her way to leading the wicket-takers list for this season, if that was your prediction too. The ever-consistent spinner has two already. Mishit by the Sutherland and caught at long on. Sutherland c Anjali Sarvani b Ecclestone 8 (10 balls)

GG 50/2 after 7 overs: Tidy over from Deepti Sharma.

GG 45/2 after 6 overs: Good captaincy from Healy to bring back Anjali for an over with the set batters gone. A decent powerplay for the Giants in terms of run-rate but the two setbacks will hurt.

Deol and Sutherland in the middle. Another rebuild job for GG.

GG 39/2 after 5 overs: WICKET! Well, just as we had thought. The Deepti-Sophie factor in play early. The English spinner strikes in her first over too, Meghana is gone after starting the over with a four through cover. Meghana c Sehrawat b Ecclestone 24 (15 balls)

GG 34/1 after 4 overs: WICKET! Brilliant yorker from Deepti, one ball after flighting one up outside off. Zones in onto the leg stump, 88.3 kph. Dunkley b Sharma 13 (11 balls)

Deepti Sharma time.

GG 30/0 after 3 overs: Another good over for GG. Meghana starts and ends the over with a four as Gayakwad goes for 10.

GG 20/0 after 2 overs: Dunkley and Meghana get going. The latter with two fours through the offside, and Dunkley does the same last two balls. Four fours in the Anjali over. The GG dugout will already be feeling a lot better.

GG 3/0 after 1 over: Dunkley and Meghana cautious as Gayakwad keeps it on the stumps.


That UP Warriorz XI actually looks quite lit. Giants have issues if they go 0-2 today, in such a short tournament. Gayakwad to start off against Meghana and Dunkley.

Update from Giants earlier today: This is what they had to say about the Dottin situation (after she hinted on social media that she wasn’t injured).

Playing XIs:

GG: S Meghana, Sophia Dunkley, Harleen Deol, Ashleigh Gardner, Annabel Sutherland, Kim Garth, Sushma Verma (wk), Dayalan Hemalatha, Sneh Rana (c), Tanuja Kanwar, Mansi Joshi

UPW: Alyssa Healy(wk/c), Shweta Sehrawat, Tahlia McGrath, Deepti Sharma, Grace Harris, Simran Shaikh, Kiran Navgire, Devika Vaidya, Sophie Ecclestone, Anjali Sarvani, Rajeshwari Gayakwad

STAT ALERT: One of the pre-tournament pointers about GG was their bowling attack and this stat shows the challenge they have. They need to bounce back today.

JioCinema

TOSS: Sneh Rana it is to lead the Giants tonight, she opts to bat first. Alyssa Healy said she’d liked to have batted first too if she had the chance.

6.55 pm: Hello and welcome to the live coverage of match No 3 of the Women’s Premier League. Gujarat Giants had a tough night on Saturday, a massive defeat and off the field concerns too. But it is sometimes a good thing to get back to action so fast, there is not much time to let it fester. UP Warriorz have a strong squad on paper and will be looking to hit the ground running.

Three half centuries already, a four-for, a five-for. Two matches and some terrific individual performances already (with MI and DC looking super strong). Hope we get a close match soon too.