Gujarat Giants (GG) opened their campaign in the TATA Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026 with a 10-run victory in a high-scoring contest against UP Warriorz (UPW) under the Navi Mumbai sun. In what was the first afternoon game in the WPL since 2023, GG’s statement batting performance saw them score 207 runs, with captain Ashleigh Gardner top-scoring with 65(41).

Georgia Wareham was adjudged the Player of the Match for her 27*(10) with the bat and 2/30 with the ball, and her experience was on full display. The match saw a total of 404 runs being scored, including a delightful 78(40) from Phoebe Litchfield for UPW.

Losing the toss and being put in to bat first worked perfectly for GG. The experienced Sophie Devine set the tone with a fiery 38(20), scoring freely against the likes of Deepti Sharma and Sophie Ecclestone.

UPW struck back with quick wickets of both GG openers, Beth Mooney and Devine, courtesy of Eccletone and Shikha Pandey, respectively, and GG ended the powerplay at 56/2. However, what followed was a display of fabulous ball-striking from every batter that followed.

Captain Gardner and WPL debutant Anushka Sharma ensured there was at least one boundary every over for the next five overs, and GG raced to 99/2 after 11 overs. While Sharma continued along her merry way with some lovely shotmaking en route to 44(30), Gardner pressed on the accelerator after a cautious start. She smashed three fours and two sixes in the span of seven deliveries before racing to her sixth WPL fifty off 30 deliveries.

Sharma and Gardner put on 103 runs for the third wicket before Dottin dismissed Sharma, and Ecclestone castled Gardner for a fabulous 65(41). They had set the platform with GG on 173/4 after 18 overs. Georgia Wareham and Bharti Fulmali then applied the finishing touches with 34 runs off the last two overs, including five sixes, and GG finished on a mammoth 207/4.

GG made an early inroad in the field as Renuka Singh castled Kiran Navgire in the very first over.

UPW captain Meg Lanning and fellow Australian Litchfield wrestled the momentum back for their team with a classy 70-run stand, and UPW sped to 73/1 in the 9th over.

Then came another swing in momentum as Georgia Wareham and Renuka combined to get three wickets within five deliveries, with Lanning (30 off 27), Harleen Deol, and Deepti Sharma all walking back to leave UPW reeling at 83/4 after 10 overs. Litchfield and Shweta Sehrawat were unfazed, though. They collected 19 runs off Gardner in the very next over, with Litchfield getting to her fifty off just 24 deliveries in the process.

The duo kept UPW in the hunt with a partnership of 69(35), with Litchfield oozing class. But wickets in quick succession once again hurt their cause. Sehrawat and Litchfield fell in back-to-back overs before more regular wickets fell, but the Australian showed her quality with 78(40), including eight fours and five sixes.

Asha Sobhana’s blitz of 27(10) proved too little too late as GG held their nerve in the slog overs to get their season going with a win, restricting UPW to 197/8 after 20 overs. In a high-scoring contest, two wickets apiece from Renuka, Devine, and Wareham boosted GG’s defence of their target.