Gujarat Giants beat Delhi Capitals in Match 14 of the TATA WPL at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.
Laura Wolvaardt (57 off 45) and Ashleigh Gardner (51* off 33) hit fifties to help GG post 147/4 on the board. The bowlers and fielders then fired collectively to restrict DC to 136 and help GG win the match by 11 runs. Five out of six GG bowlers picked up at least a wicket and they affected two run outs in the field to keep GG alive in the competition.
Defending 147, GG pacer Kim Garth came close to picking up the wicket of Meg Lanning off the first ball of the innings. Lanning missed a flick and got hit on the pads. GG reviewed the LBW call as the umpire gave it not out but replays showed it was clipping leg and was an umpire's call. Shafali Verma then got going with a well-timed six over wide long on, off Tanuja Kanwar. The left-arm spinner though bounced back to clean up Shafali three balls later.
Alice Capsey and Lanning then took the aggressive tour and hit four fours and two sixes to take the score to 48 from 5.1 overs. However, against the run of play, captain Sneh Rana struck as she trapped Lanning LBW for 18. And three balls later, a mix-up between Capsey and Jemimah Rodrigues saw the former walk back to the pavilion, run out. DC reached 51/3 at the end of the Powerplay.
Rana then brought back Garth and the move worked as she had Rodrigues caught behind for 1. Suddenly, DC were in a bit of trouble at 52/4.
Kapp then released some pressure as she hit a couple of fours off the Mansi Joshi over which also included five wides as they collected 16 off it. Just when it seemed like a partnership was developing between Kapp and Jonassen, Harleen Deol provided a big breakthrough as she had the in-form Jonassen caught at long off.
A couple of quiet overs followed and the required run rate was rising. Kapp again provided some relief as she hit a four and a six off Deol. DC though kept losing wickets as Gardner cleaned up Taniya Bhatia for 1. Ashwani Kumari then provided a crucial moment in the match as she scored a brilliant direct hit to send back the dangerous-looking Kapp on 36 (29). Kanwar then had Radha Yadav caught behind.
Arundhati Reddy then led DC's fightback as she hit four 4s to bring the equation down to 13 off 13. But Garth, who had been excellent throughout the day, struck off the last ball of her spell to have the dangerous Reddy caught at cover.
Gardner then finished it off as she had Poonam Yadav caught at mid-wicket to win it for DC by 11 runs.
The Giants stayed alive in the competition and moved to the fourth position courtesy of the win.
Earlier, Delhi Capitals captain won the toss and elected to bowl. They made one change as Poonam Yadav replaced Tara Norris. The Gujarat Giants made two changes as Laura Wolvaardt and Ashwani Kumari came in for S Meghana and Annabel Sutherland.
All-rounder Marizanne Kapp provided a good start to the Capitals as she sent back Sophia Dunkley in the first over. The batter looked to go over the top but ended up mistiming it to Alice Capsey at mid-on.
Harleen Deol then hit the first boundary of the innings, off the 11th ball of the innings as she cracked one through covers off Radha Yadav.
The DC bowlers were largely accurate and didn't give the Giants' batters much. They bowled with discipline and the pacers got a hint of movement. They conceded just four fours in the first six overs as GG reached 32/1 at the end of the Powerplay.
The Giants couldn't get the momentum going and the pressure brought about the wicket of Deol who was caught behind off Jess Jonassen. The umpire at first gave it not out but DC reviewed it. The Ultraedge showed a spike and the decision was reversed. GG trudged to 54/2 at the halfway mark.
Ashleigh Gardner then broke the boundary drought as she smacked back to back fours off Shikha Pandey to make it the first 10-run over of the innings. GG picked up the scoring from there on as they hit three more fours off the next two overs to reach 94/2 at the end of the 15th over.
Wolvaardt then took the attack to Jonassen as she hit the first six of the innings followed by a couple of fours to garner 15 runs from the over. The GG opener brought up her fifty off 41 balls.
Gardner continued to attack as she hit consecutive fours off Arundhati Reddy but the bowler bounced back a ball later to clean up Wolvaardt on 57.
Gardner then took the attack to Jonassen in the last over as she brought up her fifty off just 32 balls. She hit a couple of fours in the over before Jonassen picked up the wicket of Hemalatha off the last ball of the innings. GG posted 147/4 from their 20 overs. Gardner remained unbeaten on 51 off 33 balls. GG scored 83/2 in the last eight overs thanks largely to the 53-ball 81 stand between Wolvaardt and Gardner.