Beth Mooney Shines with 96 off 56 balls, powering her team to a total of 186/5. The UP Warriorz struggled to contain her aggressive batting, with poor bowling and fielding contributing to their difficulties in preventing the Gujarat Giants from posting a strong score.
The first over of the innings belonged to UPW, as their in-form bowler, Chinelle Henry, dismissed Dayalan Hemalatha for just 2 runs off 3 balls. Credit goes to Uma Chetry for her brilliant catch behind the stumps. Unfortunately, this was the only moment that UPW was genuinely in the match.
Harleen Deol joined Beth Mooney at the crease, and both quickly settled in, easily finding the boundary. The pitch was conducive to batting, allowing the ball to come onto the bat nicely. Although Harleen took some time to get going, Beth was the more aggressive partner, hitting boundaries with ease. The duo added 40 runs during the powerplay and quickly took their partnership past 50 runs as they maintained the pressure on UPW’s fielders, leading to some mis fielding and a lack of proper line and length in their bowling.
Beth Mooney reached her half-century, and the partnership between Mooney and Deol grew to an impressive 101 runs off 68 balls, setting a solid platform for a strong finish. Deol was eventually dismissed for 45 runs off 32 balls by Sophie Ecclestone. Following that, Ashleigh Gardner and Deondra Dottin contributed quick runs in the middle overs.
However, the standout performer was Beth Mooney, who consistently pushed for runs and found boundaries in gaps. She struck 17 boundaries during her innings, finishing with 96 runs off 59 balls. It was unfortunate that she couldn’t bring up her first-ever century in the Women’s Premier League, but this innings stands as one of the best in the tournament's history.
Even though she missed her hundred, her contribution was crucial in helping the Giants reach 186 runs. This total should prove to be more than sufficient on this surface, especially with some spin expected in the last five overs of the first innings. It could serve as an advantage for Gujarat when they introduce spinners with the old ball. Stay tuned to watch the chase unfold!
