It can’t be easy to play a crucial knockout encounter after watching one of your mainstays injure herself during the warm-up just minutes before the toss.
Gujarat Giants got off to this very horrifying start when all-rounder Deandra Dottin – who has been clinical for the side with bat and ball – injured her left knee ahead of the game. It was the start of several things to go wrong for the franchise as it succumbed to a 47-run loss against Mumbai Indians in the Women’s Premier League Eliminator at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.
Ashleigh Gardner opted to chase, placing faith in her bowling attack to do what it did at this very venue a few days ago when it prevented MI from bludgeoning away to 200. However, on a slower strip this time around, as broadcaster Natalie Germanos exclaimed, “Gujarat is playing like a team that has never played in the Eliminator.”
The first couple of overs belonged to the Giants, with Hayley Matthews and Yastika Bhatia taking their time to get a sense of how the pitch would play. Debutant Danielle Gibson, who replaced Dottin, removed Yastika. Matthews and new batter Nat Sciver-Brunt erred on the side of caution until the 10th over, digging into the surface.
AS IT HAPPENED: MI vs GG WPL 2025 Eliminator Highlights
A 10-over massacre followed, aided generously by some abysmal fielding by the Giants. Even skipper Gardner, who is usually a safe pair of hands, allowed the occasion to get to her, with misfields leading to boundaries and the unacceptable drop of Matthews in the 15th over. 124 runs were given away in the last 10 overs. MI hit only nine sixes in this innings, all of which came in this phase. Both Matthews and Sciver-Brunt brought up their fifties.
Dottin’s wily medium pace was sorely missed, but the more astounding development was Gardner opting to only bowl two overs in a match that required the seniors to stand up and take responsibility.
When Sciver-Brunt raised her bat to mark her fifty, there were slumped shoulders on the field for the personnel in orange. One can argue that the match was lost long before the chase even began.
With 214 needed for victory, fate struck again with Shabnim Ismail baiting and trapping Beth Mooney for just six runs. Having someone in the slip – like how Matthews was – is something Giants should have done too, with the number of runs leaked wide from Mooney during the MI batting innings.
Gujarat Giants’ Danielle Gibson in action during the WPL Eliminator Match between Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Giants held at CCI Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.
| Photo Credit:
EMMANUAL YOGINI
Gujarat Giants’ Danielle Gibson in action during the WPL Eliminator Match between Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Giants held at CCI Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.
| Photo Credit:
EMMANUAL YOGINI
Harleen Deol and Gardner, who were crucial to the chase going deep, also fell within the PowerPlay leaving the Giants in all kinds of trouble. An already underwhelmingly filled Brabourne Stadium began emptying out with crowds sure that MI had a foot in the final.
Phoebe Litchfield and Gibson put on a 38-run stand for the fourth wicket – the highest partnership of the game for GG. Compare that with the 133-run stand between Matthews and Sciver-Brunt and there’s the story of this game.
There was resistance from Litchfield and Bharti Fulmali with Gujarat taking the game into the 20th over. However, it was too little too late with a clinical Mumbai fielding show helping the inaugural champion seal its berth in the final.
In a repeat of the 2023 edition, Mumbai Indians will take on Delhi Capitals in the summit clash on Saturday.