UP Warriorz face Gujarat Giants in a crucial WPL match at Ekana Stadium, Lucknow, at 7:30 PM IST. Both teams have struggled, winning only two of five matches, with Warriorz occupying third place due to net run rate. Warriorz aim to leverage home advantage, having restructured their batting lineup after a recent match. The Giants’ batting has been inconsistent, trying various opening pairs while their middle order strengthens with Phoebe Litchfield and star allrounders. Key players include Grace Harris for Warriorz and young bowler Kashvee Gautam for the Giants. Both teams need a victory to improve playoff chances.
Who’s playing
UP Warriorz vs Gujarat Giants
Ekana Stadium, Lucknow, 7.30pm IST
What to expect: Minimal margin for mistake
The Warriorz will contest their final three league matches of the season at Ekana Stadium and are eager to leverage their home advantage. In their most recent encounter against Mumbai Indians, the Warriorz altered their batting order, having Grace Harris open alongside Kiran Navgire, while Vrinda Dinesh was shifted down to No. 3. This strategy appeared effective, with both Harris and Dinesh contributing vital scores of 46 and 33, respectively. However, they have struggled to build on their starts and frequently missed opportunities for lower-order hitting from Chinelle Henry and Sophie Ecclestone, often ending up with subpar totals. The middle overs are where they tend to be most vulnerable, which the Giants may aim to capitalize on. The Warriorz have lost the highest number of wickets (24) in the middle phase (7 to 16) of this WPL season and have been the slowest (at 6.72) during this period as well.
For the Giants, while the bowling lineup appears largely reliable in terms of role definition, uncertainties persist regarding their top order. They have experimented with three different opening combinations across five matches, with only Beth Mooney maintaining a consistent presence at the top. D Hemalatha, who batted at No. 3 in the first three games in Vadodara, was dropped after underwhelming scores and later promoted to open against RCB. Harleen Deol began the season in the middle order, later opening with Mooney, and then was shifted to No. 3 for their last match. However, the Giants have solidified their middle order with the addition of left-hander Phoebe Litchfield, along with star allrounders Ash Gardner and Deandra Dottin. Litchfield also played at No. 3 in one game before dropping to No. 5 against MI, where she displayed comfort at the crease, scoring an unbeaten 30.
UP Warriorz LWL (last three matches, most recent first)
Gujarat Giants WLL
The Lucknow pitch is typically known for supporting slower bowlers. The Warriorz may consider including an additional spinner in Alana King and dropping Tahlia McGrath, who has struggled with both bat and ball this season.
UP Warriorz (likely XI): 1 Kiran Navgire, 2 Grace Harris, 3 Vrinda Dinesh, 4 Deepti Sharma (capt), 5 Shweta Sehrawat, 6 Uma Chetry (wk), 7 Chinelle Henry, 8 Saima Thakor, 9 Alana King, 10 Sophie Ecclestone, 11 Kranti Goud
The Giants may also reinstate left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad in place of fast bowler Meghna Singh.
Gujarat Giants (likely XI): 1 Beth Mooney (wk), 2 D Hemalatha, 3 Harleen Deol, 4 Ash Gardner (capt), 5 Phoebe Litchfield, 6 Deandra Dottin, 7 Kashvee Gautam, 8 Bharti Fulmali, 9 Tanuja Kanwar, 10 Meghna Singh/Rajeshwari Gayakwad, 11 Priya Mishra