E-Paper
Sign in
WPL: Anushka the new star as Giants beat Warriorz
Anushka Sharma shines in her WPL debut, scoring 44 runs and helping Gujarat Giants secure a 10-run win over UP Warriorz in a thrilling match.
Navi Mumbai: There was some degree of surprise in the few moments after Gujarat Giants lost their first wicket. Next in to bat was Women’s Premier League (WPL) debutant Anushka Sharma.
In domestic circles, there was a buzz around the 22-year-old from Madhya Pradesh. She was the second-highest scorer in the MP Women’s League with 93 in four matches, and was the highest scorer, with 155 in five matches, for Central Zone in the Senior Inter Zonal T20 Trophy.
On Saturday, at the DY Patil Stadium against UP Warriorz, she quelled all doubts as she brought that same form to the fore to help the Giants register a 10-run win. Facing her sixth ball, she went down on one knee and swatted Asha Shobhana’s delivery behind square leg. A few overs later, with confidence growing, she stepped down the track and chipped the ball straight over the bowler to the fence.
If that wasn’t enough, she started to reverse sweep with relish, calmly threading the ball through the fielders and sending it to the boundary.
Her innings eventually ended with her score on 44 off 30 (7x4). But in the process, with captain Ashleigh Gardner (65 – 41b, 6x4, 3x6) she had set the foundation for the Giants to put up a target of 208 (207/4). One they eventually defended after restricting the Warrrioz to 197/8, despite Phoebe Litchfield’s brilliant knock of 78 off 40 (8x4, 5x6).
If one of the objectives behind launching WPL was to give upcoming Indian talents a platform to showcase their skill, Anushka took advantage.
“She’s timing the ball beautifully,” Giants’ head coach Michael Klinger said after the match. “She can hit through the field and over the field. And she’s really good in the field.”
The confidence with which she played though should not come as a surprise. She is a player certain about her talent. So much so that, in an interview with HT, Anushka said she knew she would get picked during the auction.
The Giants though were not the only team that knew of her talent. Anushka had a base price of ₹10 lakh, but after a bidding war with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the Giants picked her up for ₹45 lakh.
Anushka played an important innings for her team on Saturday, raising a superb third wicket stand of 103 runs off 63 balls with Gardner. Georgia Wareham later added to the score with a quickfire 27 off 10 (1x4, 3x6).
The Warriorz stumbled in the first over of their chase, but captain Meg Lanning and Litchfield started to claw their way back into the match. Though wickets started to fall regularly after the eight over, Litchfield held on to keep the game in the balance.
But once the rising Australia batter was caught at long-off, the odds favoured the Giants and they held on to win their opener. With a newly unearthed talent in their midst.
