Captain Beth Mooney was direct in her assessment of the Gujarat Giants’ dismal first half of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) season. Following a fourth straight loss, she remarked, “A few more runs will be pretty helpful (in the future), probably from the skipper and then flowing through the rest of the team.”
Mooney and opening partner Laura Wolvaardt batted as if they had taken that self-criticism to heart as the league moved to New Delhi and her team’s prospects of advancing past the group stage hung in the balance.
The Giants blasted their way to a 19-run vic
tory to start the season on Wednesday, as the pair toyed with the Royal Challengers Bangalore bowling attack and put on a 140-run partnership.
It is surprising that Mooney and Wolvaardt have had trouble getting things going this year because their strengths complement each other so well. Giants’ batting-heavy lineup is imbalanced and dependent on a top order that hasn’t formed strong alliances or displayed flashes of individual brilliance (Ash Gardner’s forty was the highest score in four previous games).
The best of the two was on full display during a scorching evening belter at the Kotla. Wolvaardt scored a fluid 76 off 45 balls. With 13 fours and no sixes, the South African’s strokeplay was less dependent on aggression and more on creating openings in the field with shot selection conviction, something that had eluded her in the first four games. As Wolvaardt took charge of the quicks, Mooney’s pace between the wickets kept the scoreboard moving. Later, she increased the pace of her scoring against the spinners, which is her speciality. The Australian, a reliable scorer in all formats, skillfully managed the pace of her innings, converting a 21-ball 32 into a 51-ball 82.
The Giants might have felt they left some runs on the board after scoring just 44 runs in the final five overs, especially since Mooney’s run outs were caused by a series of brain fades. However, RCB would do them a favour if they replicated their carelessness with the ball, in the field and with the bat.
Smriti Mandhana’s team had a dismal day to put it mildly, with 14 wides, numerous misfields, and no bowler with an economy of less than eight. Their batters were unable to turn leads into victories, which gave the Giants a steady lead in wickets. Georgia Wareham’s (48 from 22) late blitz would be in vain, preventing a comprehensive loss.
The Giants and Mooney will be depending on this first convincing victory to spark a late comeback.
 season){kind=link}