Gardner’s dominance with bat, ball leads Giants to second Women’s Premier League victory

Callan Morse Published March 17, 2023 at 1.00pm (AWST)

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Ash Gardner top scored for the Gujarat Giants before claiming two wickets in their 11-run victory. Image: Pankaj Nangia.

Ash Gardner has justified her hefty price tag as the Women's Premier League's highest paid overseas player, putting together a dominant match-winning performance with both bat and ball to see the Gujarat Giants overcome the Delhi Capitals.

The allrounder's unbeaten half-century and two wickets lead Gujarat to their second victory of the WPL, defeating the Dehli by 11 runs at Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium.

Gardner top scored for the Giants in their sixth tournament outing against the second placed Capitals, scoring 51* from 33 balls in the Giants' total of 4-147.

Batting at four, she partnered with South African overseas Laura Woolvardt (57 from 45), Gujarat's replacement player for the injured Beth Mooney, in a 81-run third wicket stand.

Gardner was her damaging self with the bat, scoring 36 of her 51* in boundaries. Image: Pankaj Nangia.

Gardner struck nine boundaries in her innings in what is the tournament's fastest half-century to date, to finish unbeaten whilst striking at 154.55.

However Gardner didn't have it all her own way, with Alice Capsey (22 from 11) striking the allrounder for consecutive sixes in the opening over of her spell.

But the Muruwari champion bounced back, taking 2-7 from the final three overs.

She delivered a tight ninth over of Dehli's chase, going for just three runs whilst bowling to Capitals' allrounders Jess Jonassen (4 from 10) and innings top-score Marizanne Kapp (36 from 29).

FL-𝐀𝐒𝐇-Y FIFTY! 🤩
Gardner with a powerful finish. 💪#DCvGG #WPL2023 #BringItOn #GujaratGiants pic.twitter.com/Z7AzlJkYFj
— Gujarat Giants (@GujaratGiants) March 16, 2023

Gardner then returned to the bowling crease in the fourteenth over where she conceded just three runs and bowled Taniya Bhatia (1 from 4), before ending the innings by picking up Poonam Yadav (0 from 3) in the second last over of the chase.

She finished with figures of 2-19 from 3.4 overs as the Giants restricted Dehli to 136 all out.

"It's probably the game that I've been searching for to be honest," Gardner said after being awarded Player of the Match honours.

"I feel like I've been pretty inconsistent so far through this tournament so to put my team in a winning position with the bat and then bowling well, it was a pretty clinical performance, which was pleasing."

Gardner and her Giants teammates celebrate the match-clinching wicket of Poonam Yadav. Image: Pankaj Nangia.

Gardner agreed that her off-spin is likely to play a bigger role for Gujarat on used wickets as they look to string together consecutive wins for the first time in the tournament.

"As the tournament's gone on, spin has played a bigger part," Gardner said.

"At the start, the ball wasn't turning at all but now the wickets have been used, it's slower off the wicket and there's a little bit of purchase for spin."

Sitting fourth on the WPL table, Gujarat are one of three sides that are still able to quality for the tournament's playoff stage.

The Giants' next match is against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday.