WPL 2023: Orange cap and Purple cap standings after UP Warriorz vs Gujarat Giants match (Updated)

The third match of the inaugural Women's Premier League (WPL) 2023 saw the Gujarat Giants (GG) face the UP Warriorz at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai on March 5.

The clash between the two teams saw the Alyssa Healy-led side eke out a last-gasp win to hand GG their second loss on the trot.

Giants' regular skipper Beth Mooney, who limped off while batting in the inaugural match on Saturday, was ruled out of the game. Vice-captain Sneh Rana took on the leadership duties in the Australian's absence and elected to bat first after winning the toss.

GG had a lukewarm, but a much better powerplay compared to the one against MI in their first match. The UP Warriorz's spin bowling pair of Sophie Ecclestone and Deepti Sharma struck in their respective first overs to leave the opposition at 45-2 at the six-over mark.

Their innings continued to progress on a timid note as they were placed at 67-3 at the halfway mark of their innings. Tahlia McGrath, the world's No.1 ranked batter, also got into the act, but with the ball, to dismiss the struggling Sushma Verma.

Harleen Deol and Ashleigh Gardner put up a stable 44-run partnership to smooth things over in the middle overs. UP Warriorz ultimately finished with a first innings total of 169-6.

The trend of chasing sides struggling in the powerplay continued as the UP Warriorz were rattled by the new ball. The sedate powerplay ended with the team scoring 35 runs for the loss of three wickets.

UP Warriorz stole the game from the jaws of defeat courtesy of heroics by Sophie Ecclestone and Grace Harris to seal a narrow three-wicket win with a ball to spare.

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WPL 2023 Orange Cap list updated

Harleen Deol overcame her blushes from the first match, where she was dismissed for a duck, to top score against the spin-heavy UP Warriorz. Coming into bat in the fourth over, she scored 46 runs off 31 deliveries to get into the top 10 of the highest run-getter list.

Dayalan Hemalatha, who top scored for GG in their first match, with 29 runs, moved into the list of top 10 run-getters after her brief knock in the death overs. She added 21 more runs to reach the 50-run mark and claim the sixth spot on the Orange Cap list.

Hailing from Nagaland, Kiran Navgire made an instant impact by climbing high onto the run-scoring charts. She played a composed knock of 53 off 43 deliveries to steady the run chase and snuck into into the top five as well.

Grace Harris played a splendid cameo and scored a fifty to mark her presence on the list. Her match-winning 59-run knock got her into the fourth spot on the WPL Orange Cap list.

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WPL 2023 Purple Cap list updated

The No.1 ranked bowler in the world, Sophie Ecclestone, lived up to her reputation after being among the wicket-takers from the start of the tournament. The left-arm spinner ended her spell with figures of 2-25.

India's leading all-rounder Deepti Sharma, was not far behind and bowled a tight spell for the UP Warriorz, finishing with 2-27 to get into the top 10 list of wicket-takers.

Coming in as a replacement into the playing XI, Australia's Kim Garth got the ball moving with her impeccable seam position and removed both openers. This included the wicket of Tahlia McGrath for a first-ball duck inside the powerplay.

She followed in the footsteps of Tara Norris and claimed a WPL five-wicket haul of her own to move second onto the list.

Was the clash between the Gujarat Giants and the UP Warriorz the best one in the WPL upto now? Let us know what you think.