WPL 2026, match 2 report: Gardner and Wareham sparkle as Gujarat Giants edge out UP Warriorz in high-scoring thriller

In the second match of WPL 2026, Gujarat Giants triumphed over UP Warriorz by 10 runs on Saturday. Ashleigh Gardner's 65 and Georgia Wareham's 2/30 helped them win the full points.

Georgia Wareham's 2/30 helped Gujarat Giants win the full points against UP Warriorz. Image | WPL

The second match of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026 lived up to its billing as a "clash of titans" as the Gujarat Giants secured a hard-fought 10-run victory over the UP Warriorz at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy. In a game that saw over 400 runs scored, it was the individual brilliance of Ashleigh Gardner and a late-innings blitz from Georgia Wareham that ultimately proved the difference. Despite a valiant, fire-breathing 78 from UP’s Phoebe Litchfield the Warriorz fell just short of a mammoth 208-run target, finishing their 20 overs at 197/8.

First innings: The Giants’ record-breaking charge

After being put into bat by UP Warriorz’s new captain Meg Lanning, the Gujarat Giants overcame a shaky start to post 207/4 their highest-ever total in the WPL.

While Beth Mooney (13) fell early to a beauty from Sophie Ecclestone her partner Sophie Devine ensured the powerplay remained productive with a quickfire 38 off 20 balls.

The meat of the innings, however, was a masterclass partnership between captain Ashleigh Gardner and debutant Anushka Sharma. The duo added 103 runs for the third wicket, with Sharma showing no signs of nerves in her maiden WPL outing. She fell just short of a half-century, scoring 44 off 30, the highest score by a Giant on debut.

Gardner was at her destructive best, smashing 65 off 41 balls (6x4, 3x6) to become the franchise leader for most 50+ scores. The icing on the cake was provided by Georgia Wareham whose unbeaten 27 off just 10 balls propelled Gujarat past the 200-run mark and left the Warriorz bowlers looking for answers.

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The chase: Litchfield’s lone stand

The Warriorz’s pursuit of 208 began in the worst possible fashion. Indian pace spearhead Renuka Singh Thakur clean-bowled Kiran Navgire for just 1 in the opening over.

However, Meg Lanning (30) and Phoebe Litchfield briefly resurrected the chase with a 70-run stand that kept the required rate within touching distance.

The game swung back in Gujarat’s favor in the 9th over when Wareham produced a double-strike, removing Lanning (LBW) and Harleen Deol (0) in the span of three balls. When Renuka returned to dismiss Deepti Sharma, UPW were reeling at 74/4.

Litchfield, however, refused to go down without a fight. The Australian young gun played a sensational knock of 78 off 40 balls laced with eight fours and five sixes. She found an able ally in Shweta Sehrawat (25), and together they brought the equation down to a manageable level.

Read also: WPL 2026, match 1: Nadine de Klerk’s power takes RCB over the line against MI in a last-ball thriller.

With Litchfield falling in the 16th over to Devine, the responsibility fell to Deandra Dottin and the lower order. Gardner then showcased her all-round value by dismissing Dottin in the 18th over, effectively ending the primary threat.

The Warriorz needed an improbable 27 runs from the final six balls. Asha Sobhana provided some late excitement, smashing a six and two fours off Sophie Devine to bring the deficit down, but the target proved a bridge too far.

Devine held her nerve on the final ball, as Sobhana’s inside edge raced to the fence, leaving the Warriorz 10 runs short of what would have been a record-breaking chase.

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