Lone warrior Deepti fails to get UP over the line

new delhi, March 11

Sixteen-year-old pacer Shabnam Shakil announced her arrival on the big stage with brilliant figures of 3/11 to negate Deepti Sharma’s brilliance as Gujarat Giants all but dashed UP Warriorz’s hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages with an eight-run victory in the Women’s Premier League.

Warriorz, with a net run-rate of -0.371, needed to win to have any chance of qualification but despite Deepti’s unbeaten 88 off 60 balls, Warriorz could only end up with 144/5, chasing a target of 153 set by the Giants.

India international Deepti smashed nine fours. But the Warriorz had already lost steam after being reduced to 35/5 and it was always going to be a catch-up game for Alyssa Healy’s team.

They ended their eight-game campaign with six points. Even if RCB lose their last game, the Bengaluru side would still enjoy a better net run-rate unless they lose by a massive margin.

Shabnam, playing only her second game of the season, removed seasoned campaigners Healy and Chamari Athapaththu. — PTI

Brief scores: Gujarat Giants: 152/8 (Mooney 74*, Wolvaardt 43; Ecclestone 3/38, Deepti 2/22); UP Warriorz: 144/5 (Deepti 88*; Shabnam 3/11).