Vadodara, Jan 30 (IANS) An unchanged Gujarat Giants won the toss and elected to bat first against Mumbai Indians in a decisive Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026 clash at the BCA Stadium, Kotambi, on Friday. The winner of Friday’s clash will seal their spot in the playoffs.
Second-placed Gujarat Giants are yet to beat third-ranked Mumbai Indians in the WPL so far. “We just have to look at the games that we’ve won. We’ve always set a really good marker early on in our innings. Ultimately, we’re basically playing a quarterfinal here, so we know we have to do both skills really well.
“But I think we can set the game up with the bat in hand and then hopefully try and defend it with the ball. The past is the past, and we just need to focus on what the present looks like. I know when we play really good cricket, we win games of cricket.
“We just have to reflect on the last game we played against these guys. We put on 190 and obviously weren’t able to defend it, but there are so many positives we can take out of that game, and also positives from this season. The stats speak for themselves, but I think we have a great opportunity tonight to try and change that,” said GG skipper Ashleigh Gardner.
Mumbai Indians captain Harmanpreet Kaur said she was wishing to bowl first. “We wanted to bowl, so I’m glad we’ve got that opportunity because as a team that’s what we all decided. It’s a great opportunity for us to start with a good powerplay.
“If we’re able to get a few wickets, that will be a great win for us. I feel every match is a new match. Every day is a new day. I know we have a great record, but at the same time, every day we have to come and play good cricket against them. Today is another day where we want to play good cricket,” she said.
Playing XIs
Gujarat Giants: Beth Mooney (wicketkeeper), Sophie Devine, Anushka Sharma, Ashleigh Gardner (captain), Georgia Wareham, Bharti Fulmali, Kanika Ahuja, Kashvee Gautam, Tanuja Kanwer, Renuka Singh Thakur, and Rajeshwari Gayakwad
Mumbai Indians: Hayley Matthews, Sajeevan Sajana, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Rahila Firdous (wicketkeeper), Sanskriti Gupta, Vaishnavi Sharma, Shabnim Ismail, and Poonam Khemnar
–IANS
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