Delhi Capitals registered their second win in Women’s Premier League 2025.© BCCI

Skipper Ashleigh Gardner starred with both bat and ball, leading Gujarat Giants to a comprehensive six-wicket win over UP Warriorz in their Women’s Premier League match in Vadodara on Sunday. Gardner (2/39) claimed two wickets and then scored a stylish 32-ball 52, her second consecutive fifty, as Gujarat registered their first win of the third edition of the tournament, following a loss in the opening game to Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Opting to bowl, Gujarat produced a clinical effort with young spinner Priya Mishra returning impressive figures of 4-0-25-3. Skipper Gardner, Deandra Dottin (2/34), and Kashvee Gautam (1/15) also played key roles in restricting UPW to 143 for nine.

Chasing 144 to win, the Giants were reduced to 22 for 2 with opener Beth Mooney and Dayalan Hemalata back in the pavilion after UPW introduced spin at both ends. However, Gardner produced an inspired knock, adding 55 runs off 42 balls with Laura Wolvaardt (22) to resurrect the innings.

Gardner struck two fours off Kranti Goud to ease the pressure before depositing Saima Thakor twice into the stands in the fifth over. Wolvaardt also hit a six, as 20 runs came off the over, taking GG to 41 for 2 in six overs.

The GG skipper blasted five fours and three sixes before being dismissed by Tahila McGrath in the 12th over.

However, it had little effect as Harleen Deol (34) and Dottin (33) added 58 runs off 37 balls to take Gujarat home with two overs to spare.

Earlier, UPW skipper Deepti Sharma top-scored with a 27-ball 39, while Uma Chetry (24) and Shweta Sehrawat (16) made useful contributions in the middle-order. Alana King (19) and Saima Thakor (15) combined for a late surge, adding 26 runs off 13 balls to take UPW past 140.

Kiran Navgire and Vrinda Dinesh were dismissed cheaply by Dottin and Gardner as the Warriorz struggled early on. UPW were reduced to 22 for 2 by the third over, with Navgire trapped in front by Dottin and Dinesh was cleaned up by Gardner.

Chetry and Deepti tried to rebuild but were limited by tight bowling from the Gujarat team, with UPW managing just 41 for 2 in the powerplay. Their partnership of 50 runs off 43 balls was broken by Dottin, who removed Chetry.

Mishra then struck twice in three balls, removing Australians Tahlia McGrath and Grace Harris to break UPW’s back, leaving them at 78 for 5 in the 11th over.

Sehrawat and Deepti attempted a recovery, but Gardner’s sensational catch accounted for Deepti as UPW slumped to 117 for 8 by the 18th over.

WPL 2025: GG vs UPW Highlights© BCCI

Gujarat Giants will hope their bowlers complement the batters and fielding shows overall improvement after a crushing defeat in the Women’s Premier League season opener, when they take on the UP Warriorz here on Sunday. Gujarat Giants produced a unified batting show to set a commanding 202-run target against the defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru but their bowling frailties were exposed in the first game of the season itself when as many as six options also could not contain the opposition batters.

Richa Ghosh was dropped on the first ball she faced and the India wicketkeeper-batter made GG pay a hefty price for the mistake, striking 64 off only 26 balls (7x4s, 4x6s) to quickly turn the tables.

GG’ Tanuja Kanwar had also spilled Ellyse Perry’s catch when she was batting on two. The Australian great too made the most of the reprieve as she hit a 34-ball 57 to anchor RCB’s record chase.

Gujarat Giants had earlier produced a fine batting show with fifties from former skipper Beth Mooney (56) and incumbent leader Ashleigh Gardner (79 not out) propelling them to 201 for five on a fresh surface here at the Kotambi Stadium.

The opening game of the third season here on Friday was not just the highest match aggregate in WPL but also witnessed highest run chase, implying that batters will continue to make merry and the bowlers will have to keep evolving new plans.

With only one day to turn their focus on the second match, the Giants will be challenged to regroup and find ways to execute better with the ball and the field.

On the other hand, UP Warriorz would take the field under a new captain, India’s Deepti Sharma, after their regular skipper Alyssa Healy opted out of the competition due to a string of injuries.

Deepti has been a vital cog in the Indian teams across formats but the 27-year-old veteran hasn’t held any leadership role with the national side in nearly a decade.

On their part, spin bowling could be described as UP Warriorz’ biggest strength this season after the team which finished fourth in the five-team league last year added Australia’s Alana King to their roster which already boasts of England’s Sophie Ecclestone.

King had a successful run in the women’s Ashes taking nine wickets in the only Tests as well as 17 more wickets in the limited-overs series. Along with King and Ecclestone, the Warriorz have India’s Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Deepti, Gouher Sultana as well as others in Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu and Grace Harris.

Their overall firepower pits Warriorz as the favourites for this clash given they have the formidable trio of Tahlia McGrath, Harris and Athapaththu to pick from in the batting.

The Indian talent strength is also impressive with the likes of young batters Uma Chetry, Vrinda Dinesh, Arushi Goel and the experienced Kiran Navgire in the mix, while among bowlers Saima Thakor will be looking to add a few wickets to her kitty after a dry run in the series against West Indies and Ireland.

Teams:

Gujarat Giants: Ashleigh Gardner (c), Bharti Fulmali, Laura Wolvaardt, Phoebe Litchfield, Simran Shaikh, Danielle Gibson, Dayalan Hemalatha, Deandra Dottin, Harleen Deol, Sayali Satghare, Tanuja Kanwar, Beth Mooney (wk), Kashvee Gautam, Mannat Kashyap, Meghna Singh, Prakashika Naik, Priya Mishra, Shabnam Shakil.

UP Warriorz: Deepti Sharma (c), Arushi Goel, Kiran Navgire, Shweta Sehrawat, Vrinda Dinesh, Chamari Athapaththu, Chinelle Henry, Grace Harris, Kranti Goud, Poonam Khemnar, Sophie Ecclestone, Tahlia McGrath, Uma Chetry (wk), Alana King, Anjali Sarvani, Gouher Sultana, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Saima Thakor.

Match starts at 7:30pm IST. 

As expected, all-rounders were in demand at the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 auction in Bengaluru on Sunday. While West Indies Deandra Dottin was the costliest overseas buy at Rs 1.7 crore, uncapped Indian all-rounder Simran Shaikh was the most expensive player at Sunday’s auction, fetching Rs 1.9 crore. Both Dottin and Shaikh were sold to the Gujarat Giants. While G Kamalini, 16, got a jaw-dropping deal of Rs 1.6 crore, the highlight of the even was Gujarat’s bid for Shaikh.

Who is Simran Shaikh?

Simran Banu Shaikh, commonly known as Simran Shaikh, was born on January 12, 2002 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. She was part of the UP Warriorz squad in the inaugural edition in 2022, but was released ahead of the next season owning to poor performance. The 22-year-old went unsold last season. 

Simran’s father is an electrician. She has four sisters and five brothers. She first picked up cricket at the age of 15, playing with boys in her localty of Dharavi, Mumbai. However, Simran’s cricketing journey started after she joined the United Club.

After impressing in local leagues, Simran was selected in Mumbai’s U19 women’s team. Simran, 22, a middle-order batter, played a few matches for UP Warriorz during the 2023 WPL season. She has made 176 runs in 11 matches for Mumbai at 22 with a strike rate of 100.57 during the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy in October-November this year.

All-rounder Dottin, who is currently in India with the West Indies team for the white-ball series, was the costliest among overseas players and was bought by the Giants for the second time in the auction.

Dottin, 33, a veteran of 132 WT20Is, was one of the three players with base price of Rs 50 lakh and saw UP Warriorz too make a wholehearted bid for her before Gujarat Giants upped the amount.

Dottin was signed by Gujarat Giants for Rs 60 lakh ahead of WPL 2023, but could not play the tournament as the franchise failed to obtain a medical certificate before the season. Dottin had refuted the claims made by the franchise.

Gujarat Giants coach Michael Klinger, speaking to the broadcaster, said that both Dottin and Simran were on their radar for quite some time.

“We were targeting Dottin and Simran. They bring in power and batting at a high strike rate. That often creates a winning culture, so I’m really excited for our first two picks,” said Klinger.

(With PTI Inputs)

All the five Women’s Premier League franchises submitted the list of retained and released players ahead of the 2025 season. UP Warriorz were the only side to retain 15 players, while all the other four sides kept 14 players in their squad. While the list of retained stars was big, Sneh Rana (Gujarat Giants), Veda Krishnamurthy (Gujarat Giants), Issy Wong (Mumbai Indians), Heather Knight (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) and Lea Tahuhu (Gujarat Giants) were among the big names released by their respective franchises. Have a look at the complete list of retained and released players ahead of the 2025 season –

Royal Challengers Bengaluru –

Retained: Smriti Mandhana, S Meghana, Richa Ghosh, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Wareham, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, Sophie Devine, Renuka Singh, Sophie Molineux, Ekta Bisht, Kate Cross, Kanika Ahuja, Dani Wyatt

Released: Disha Kasat, Indrani Roy, Nadine de Klerk, Shubha Satheesh, Shraddha Pokarkar, Simran Bahadur, Heather Knight (replaced last year by Nadine de Klerk)

Delhi Capitals –

Retained: Alice Capsey, Arundhati Reddy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Jess Jonassen, Marizanne Kapp, Meg Lanning, Minnu Mani, Radha Yadav, Shafali Verma, Shikha Pandey, Sneha Deepthi, Taniya Bhatia, Titas Sadhu, Annabel Sutherland

Released: Laura Harris, Poonam Yadav, Aparna Mondal, Ashwani Kumari

Gujarat Giants –

Retained: Ashleigh Gardner, Beth Mooney, Dayalan Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Laura Wolvaardt, Shabnam Shakil, Tanuja Kanwar, Phoebe Litchfield, Meghna Singh, Kashvee Gautam, Priya Mishra, Mannat Kashyap, Sayali Sathgare, Bharti Fulmali

Released: Sneh Rana, Kathryn Bryce, Trisha Poojitha, Veda Krishnamurthy, Tarannum Pathan and Lea Tahuhu

UP Warriorz –

Retained: Alyssa Healy, Anjali Sarvani, Deepti Sharma, Grace Harris, Kiran Navgire, Chamari Athapaththu, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shweta Sehrawat, Sophie Ecclestone, Tahlia McGrath, Vrinda Dinesh, Poonam Khemnar, Saima Thakor, Gouher Sultana, Uma Chetry.

Released: Lauren Bell, Laxmi Yadav, Parshavi Chopra, Soppadhandi Yashasri.

Mumbai Indians –

Retained: Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Chloe Tryon, Harmanpreet Kaur, Hayley Matthews, Jintimani Kalita, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Pooja Vastrakar, Saika Ishaque, Yastika Bhatia, Shabnim Ismail, S Sajana, Amandeep Kaur, Keerthana Balakrishnan

Released: Issy Wong, Fatima Jaffer, Humaira Kazi, Priyanka Bala

The fan urged the BCCI to investigate the incident and penalise the umpire.© X (Twitter)