Sports

Ecclestone three-for, Harris blitz hand Gujarat Giants third defeat

Published

2 years ago

2024/03/1

Priyan

Grace Harris led UP Warriorz to victory with her unbeaten 60 (BCCI)

Grace Harris’ third consecutive fifty against Gujarat Giants left Beth Mooney’s side winless after three matches and pushed UP Warriorz level with the other four sides on points. Harris’ unbeaten 60 off 33 balls included nine fours and two sixes and turned what was becoming a tense contest into a one-sided affair. Warriorz became the sixth side to win chasing at the M Chinnaswamy in eight matches.

In the end, Giants will reflect on a batting line-up with plenty of big names but not enough big runs. Though they put on their highest total of the tournament so far, none of their batters got more than Phoebe Litchfield’s 35 and they were kept quiet by a wily Warriorz attack.

Warriorz only bowled one over of seam and it was from Anjali Sarvani in the powerplay. It cost 13 runs and prompted a squeeze by spin, which was successful except for three overs. Between the 15th and 18th over, Giants scored 40 runs as Litchfield and Ashleigh Gardner shared a 52-run stand for the fifth wicket.

The chase was off to a speedy start thanks to Alyssa Healy’s 21-ball 33 and then all Warriorz as Harris played her power game to secure victory.

At the top, Giants tried a third combination in as many games and got their best result. Laura Wolvaardt playing her first game of the WPL season, opened with Beth Mooney and they shared a 40-run stand. It was an improvement on 3 between Mooney and Veda Krishnamurthy and 11 between Mooney and Harleen Deol. Wolvaardt unfurled back-to-back drives through the offside in the second over to get things going and demonstrated a strong leg-side game too.

Later in the innings, Litchfield, coming in at No.4, played to reputation and gave a meandering innings some urgency. After single-digit scores in her first two matches, she was put down on 19 and went on to hit the biggest six of the innings, when she slammed Deepti Sharma over deep mid-wicket. Litchfield and Ashleigh Gardner shared the Giants’ first 50-run partnership of the tournament and gave their attack something to bowl at.

Brief scores:
UP Warriorz Women 143 for 4 in 15.3 overs (Alyssa Healey 33, Grace Harris 60*, Chamari Athapaththu 17, Tanuja Kanwar 2-23, Meghna Singh 1-39, Kathryn Bryce 1-19) beat Gujarat Giants Women 142 for 5 in 20 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 28, Phoebe Litchfield 35, Ashleigh Gardner 30; Rajeshwari Gayakwad 1-33, Sophie Ecclestone 3-20) by six wickets

All News Advertisement

Related Topics:Grace Harris Gujarat Giants Women Sophie Ecclestone UP Warriorz women Women's Premier League WPL

Up Next

Lucknow Super Giants sign Lance Klusener as assistant coach

Don't Miss

Balbirnie steers Ireland home for maiden Test win

Click to comment

Sports

Kishan leads India’s batting show in warm-up win over South Africa

Published

12 mins ago

2026/02/5

Priyan

Ishan Kishan gets creative and launches a six [Cricinfo]

India’s explosive batting juggernaut rolled on to the doorstep of the men’s T20 World Cup 2026, helping them beat South Africa by 30 runs in the warm-up fixture at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The margin of defeat only reduced because of two overs of 22 and 20 against Shivam Dube at the death.

Opting to bat at a ground which saw teams preferring to chase in the first leg of WPL 2026, Ishan Kishan got India off to an explosive start. He rollicked to a 20-ball 53, which included a sequence of 6, 6, 4, 6 in the fifth over from Anrich Nortje, before retiring out as India finished the powerplay on 83 for 1. Tilak Varma, who played the warm-up for India A a couple of nights ago at the same venue and linked up with the Indian squad just before this warm-up game, looked fluent from get-go in his 19-ball 45.

Suryakumar Yadav as well as Hardik Pandya later freed their arm without inhibition as India posted a mammoth 240 for 5. Nortje, who has played just one international since the last T20 World Cup, conceded 57 in his three overs on the night, after his comeback game against West Indies last week also gave him figures of 3-0-59-0. Kagiso Rabada, too, was expensive, going for 44 off his three overs.

For South Africa, Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton added 65 in just five overs in the powerplay. Markram hit four sixes in his 19-ball 38 while Rickelton, batting at No. 3, made 44 off 21. But they kept losing wickets regularly and had lost half their side by the 11th over.

Jason Smith, Tristan Stubbs and Marco Jansen kept peppering the boundaries to punish Abhishek Sharma and then Dube but the challenge was too steep by then.

Brief scores:
India 240 for 5 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 53, Tilak Varma 45, Axar Patel 35*; Marco Jansen 1-18) beat South Africa 210 for 7 in 20 overs (Tristan Stubbs 45*, Ryan Rickelton 44, Aiden Markram 38, Jason Smith 35; Abhishek Sharma 2-32) by 30 runs

[Cricinfo]

Latest News

Sparkling Aaron George ton seals record chase, powers India into U19 WC final

Published

36 mins ago

2026/02/5

Priyan

Aaron George produced a special innings on the big stage to set up India's title clash with England [Cricbuzz]

On a batting beauty at the Harare Sports Club, India’s assembly line of batting talent was out in full splendour in the Under-19 World Cup semifinal. There were two centurions in a statement innings from Afghanistan, but Uzairullah Niazai and Faisal Shinozada’s knocks – glorious as they were – were rendered footnotes by a superb century from Aaron George, who led India’s record chase of 311 with the kind of composure that belied his low scores from earlier in the tournament.

George hit 115 off 104, ably supported by half-centuries from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Ayush Mhatre, as India recorded the highest ever chase in U19 World Cup history. A sixth straight final beckoned, and with it, a Friday date with England for the title – a repeat of the 2022 final, history rhyming if not quite repeating.

There was something quietly poetic about George’s century, about this particular redemption. Here was a batter who had managed a best of just 23 runs leading up to this knockout game, existing in the shadows while all around him teammates made the right noises and brandished snazzy IPL contracts. But the selectors stuck with him. And on this day, under the Harare sun, George repaid that faith with interest – 15 fours, 2 sixes, batting on until only 11 runs were required. The chase, in the end, was polished off with 53 balls to spare, the margin of victory rendering Afghanistan’s brilliance a beautiful but ultimately futile exercise.

Afghanistan had a couple of clear chances in the second innings. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was put down in the fifth over and George was reprieved when a dolly was put down by Wahidullah Zadran at mid-on. The drops proved very costly as India’s openers plundered 90 in 9.3 overs before Sooryavanshi fell to a short ball from Nooristani Omarzai for a 33-ball 68. Ayush Mhatre walked out, with a bunch of low scores under his belt, and opted to deal in either boundaries or dots for the first 12 balls before he hunkered down to build a 114-run stand with George.

George, at the other end, was barely troubled by spin or pace. A highlight of his innings was his ability to punch the ball on the up with a high elbow. There was also a delectable inside-out shot over extra cover to a ball headed down legside. George got to his century with a flick past mid-on for four, bringing the Indian dressing room to its collective feet. He hit two more boundaries in the next over before cutting Zadran to backward point in the 40th over. Vihaan Malhotra stayed unbeaten on 38 to take India home by seven wickets.

Earlier in the day, Afghanistan, having won the toss, did well to push India into chasing a record total. Shinozada and Niazai played central roles in the highest score against India in Youth ODIs, but the foundation for the same was laid by openers Khalid Ahmadzai and Osman Sadat, who put together a steady 53-run partnership.

Ahmadzai looked assured during his 31 off 39 balls before Deepesh Devendran broke through. Sadat continued the good work with a composed 39 from 70 deliveries, but his dismissal by Kanishk Chouhan left Afghanistan at 119 for 2 at the halfway stage, needing acceleration.

What followed was a batting exhibition that will have been remembered for a lot longer had the second innings not happened. Shinozada tore into the Indian attack with a magnificent 110 from just 93 balls. He reached his century in 86 deliveries and celebrated with Cristiano Ronaldo’s iconic “Siu” celebration, his second consecutive hundred in the tournament showcasing his remarkable form and temperament on the big stage.

But Shinozada wasn’t alone in the glory. Niazai played the perfect partner, remaining unbeaten on 101 from 86 balls. The pair stitched together a match-defining stand that not only revived the innings but propelled Afghanistan well past the 300-mark. Niazai’s maiden tournament century came in dramatic fashion, brought up with a pull shot while scampering for a sharp second run. The late flourish saw Afghanistan plunder 111 runs in the final 10 overs of the game, but as it turned out the slow-burn approach to the innings proved counterproductive against the latest bunch of India’s batting talents.

Brief scores:
Afghanistan 310/4 in 50 overs (Faisal Shinozada 110, Uzairullah Niazai 101; Kanishk Chouhan 2-55, Deepesh Devendran 2-64) lost to India 311/3 in 41.1 overs (Aaron George 115, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 68, Ayush Mhatre 62; Nooristani Omarzai 2-64) by 7 wickets.

[Cricbuzz]

Latest News

Pakistan PM Sharif on India boycott: ‘A very considered stance, and we should completely stand by Bangladesh’

Published

49 mins ago

2026/02/5

Priyan

Pakistan PM has said that the team's decision to boycott the game is linked to Bangladesh's ouster from the T20 World Cup [Cricinfo]

Shehbaz Sharif, the Pakistani Prime Minister, has said Pakistan’s decision to boycott the game against India at the men’s T20 World Cup 2026 was a show of solidarity with Bangladesh, after their removal from the tournament.. It is the first time any official from either the Pakistan state or the PCB has publicly touched upon the reasons for the boycott.

“We have taken a very clear stand on the T20 World Cup that we won’t play the match against India because there should be no politics on the sports field,” Sharif told members of his cabinet on Wednesday. “We have taken a very considered stance, and we should completely stand by Bangladesh, and I think this is a very appropriate decision.”

The Pakistan government put out a post on Sunday saying that while the team would participate in the T20 World Cup, it would not take the field in the February 15 group game against India. The post, which came after a week in which Pakistan’s participation in the tournament had become uncertain, did not give any reason for the decision.

The PCB has not spoken publicly on the matter, but the ICC issued a response a few hours after the X post, in which it said it hoped “that the PCB will consider the significant and long-term implications for cricket in its own country as this is likely to impact the global cricket ecosystem, which it is itself a member and beneficiary of.”

It is not known whether the PCB has officially notified the ICC, or whether there has been any contact between the two bodies. The ICC had said that it “expects the PCB to explore a mutually acceptable resolution, which protects the interests of all stakeholders.”

The Prime Minister’s comments confirm, however, that the boycott decision is linked to what the PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi – the interior minister in Sharif’s government – called the ICC’s double standards in excluding Bangladesh from the T20 World Cup.

Bangladesh were replaced in the world event after their government refused to let the team travel to India, where they were based for their games. The government, citing security concerns, wanted Bangladesh to play their games instead in Sri Lanka, the co-hosts for the event, and where Pakistan will play all their games.

The ICC Board voted 14-2 in favour of replacing Bangladesh with Scotland rather than rescheduling their games in Sri Lanka – the PCB were one of the two votes against the decision, along with the BCB.

“You can’t have double standards,” Naqvi said after the decision and cited India’s refusal to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy in 2025. “You can’t say for one country [India] they can do whatever they want and for the others to have to do the complete opposite. That’s why we’ve taken this stand, and made clear Bangladesh have had an injustice done to them. They should play in the World Cup, they are a major stakeholder in cricket.”

[Cricinfo]