Fifties from Gardner, Wolvaardt guide GG to 147/4 against DC

MUMBAI: Blistering fifties from Ashleigh Gardner and Laura Wolvaardt guided Gujarat Giants (GG) to 147/4 against Delhi Capitals (DC) in their Women's Premier League (WPL) match at Brabourne Stadium here on Thursday.

Gardner scored an unbeaten 51 of 33 deliveries while Wolvaardt played a superb knock of 57 runs for Gujarat Giants. For Delhi Capitals, Jess Jonassen bagged two while Marizanne Kapp and Arundhati Reddy scalped one wicket each.

Opting to bowl first, Delhi Capitals got off to a fine start as Marizanne Kapp provided her team with the wicket of Sophia Dunkley in the first over of the innings.

After an early blow, Harleen Deol and Laura Wolvaardt took charge as they gathered singles while slamming boundaries at regular intervals. In the 10th over of the game, Jess Jonassen gave Gujarat another blow as she dismissed well-set batter Harleen Deol for 31 runs.

The right-handed batter Ashleigh Gardner then came out to bat. The Gujarat batters rotated the strike, not allowing the Delhi bowlers to settle down while whacking the loose balls.

Gardner slammed back-to-back two boundaries off Shikha Pandey's over. The duo slammed Kapp for 11 runs in the 15th over of the game with the help of two boundaries.

Gardner and Wolvaardt hammered Jonassen for 15 runs in the 16th over with the help of two boundaries and one maximum, bringing up their 50-run partnership.

In the 17th, over Wolvaardt brought up her half-century in 43 balls. Wolvaardt continued her form and played some outstanding boundary shots while piling runs for her team. However, her stint at the crease was cut short as she was dismissed by Arundhati Reddy after she had scored 57 runs in 45 deliveries.

Dayalan Hemalatha then came out to bat at the crease. In the last over of the innings, Gardner also brought up her half-century in 32 balls and took her team's total to 147/4.

Brief score: Gujarat Giants 147/4 (Laura Wolvaardt 57, Ashleigh Gardner 51*; Jess Jonassen 2-38) vs Delhi Capitals.