Gujarat aim to recover from huge loss in season opener
- Gujarat Giants Women have a few top players with great experience, but will be without their skipper
- UP Warriorz have an excellent spin attack but could be neutralized on good batting pitches
Gujarat Giants Women will play their second game in two days when they take on UP Warriorz in the third match of the WPL 2023. The contest takes place at Dr D. Y. Patil stadium on Sunday evening.
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Gujarat Giants, who have Ash Gardner and Deandra Dottin, start as underdogs with the absence of skipper Beth Mooney and their thumping loss to Mumbai Indians. They have odds of 2.34 odds to win the match. UP Warriorz, led by Alyssa Healy, will head into the match as favourites with odds of 1.58
UP Warriorz with all eggs in one basket
UP Warriorz have an overload of spinners in their side with the likes of Deepti Sharma, Sophie Ecclestone, Devika Vaidya and Rajeshwari Gayakwad. They do have Shabnim Ismail in the pace department but the heavy reliance on spin could cost them. That said, Gujarat themselves seem pretty one-dimensional with their attack as witnessed on Saturday when they lost by 143 runs to Mumbai.
Our pick: UP Warriorz have a better side on paper compared to Gujarat Giants. We predict UP Warriors to win the match at 1.58.
The trio of Beth Mooney, Gardner and Dottin hold the key for the Giants. Dottin is also their best pace option. Bringing in Annabel Sutherland could be a good move but at the cost of Sophia Dunkley.
As we mentioned earlier, UP Warriorz have a quality spin department but on good batting decks of Mumbai, it might not be as effective. Their batting is heavily dependent on Healy and Tahlia McGrath.
Keep an eye on…
Beth Mooney’s absence – Mooney has a magnificent record in T20 cricket, averaging 38 while striking at 119. She had recently scored back to back fifties in the T20 WC semifinal and final. Her injury on Saturday could be a season-changing one for Gujarat.
Sophie Ecclestone – The England spinner is an exceptionally skillful one and sits at the top of the world rankings. She has 193 wickets in T20 cricket at 5.84 economy while striking every 16.40 balls.
